


After Underfell

by ThEmAnWhOsPeAkSiNhAnDs



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ALMOST everyone is your friend, Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Bar Fight, Eventual Court Case, F/M, Fight Scene, Justice!, Kidnapping, Mugging, Occasional Language Usage, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader is Sibling to Frisk, Tsundere Everyone, UF Papyrus Does Care, UF Papyrus was Captain of the Royal Guard, Vehicle Accident, and i'm not sure for all the tags, because I never really know what comes next, but not too much, gender neutral frisk, so does UF sans, so was Undyne
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-03-13 19:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 19,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18947605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThEmAnWhOsPeAkSiNhAnDs/pseuds/ThEmAnWhOsPeAkSiNhAnDs
Summary: Monsters have arisen from the depths of Mount Ebbot, from a horrendous place you now know as Underfell. The monsters you have the pleasure of meeting may be rough and stand-offish at first, but once you take the time to know them, you're like one of the (albeit dysfunctional) family!





	1. When Monsters Roam (in your neighborhood)

**Author's Note:**

> Hooray! New work! I'm putting up one chapter for now to see what kind of a response it gets. If it's well liked (according to me) within... hmmm... say a week or two, I'll add some more chapters!

* * *

 

It had been about three years since monsters had left the Underground. You, not even knowing at the time that monsters even existed, were much less freaked out than everyone else was. Having grown up in some of the worst possible circumstances you could imagine and learning how to handle them, at least to some acceptable degree, you didn’t think that the new ‘threat,’ as some called it, could be much worse. The monsters who had come up from the Underground looked intimidating, sure, but looks aren’t everything. And it seemed they had had to put up with just about the same, if not even more shit than you ever had. They deserved a chance before everyone immediately labeled them, “evil” or “threats”. And as a matter of fact, you had met a few of the monsters during those three years for yourself, and thought very highly of them, some being closer friends to you than any other human had ever been.

 

Though the monsters were most definitely rough around the edges; once you really got to know them, you realized they were loyal to a fault and were genuinely invested in keeping you as a friend. You had met many monsters in the time they had come to the surface, but over that time, you had met six of them that had immediately stood out to you and were now close friends.

 

There was Mettaton, a humanoid robot that at first was very against meeting any humans, but his creator, Alphys, a short, yellow dinosaur monster, insisted that he try and meet someone. And in the end, that someone had been you. You had, over time, gotten to know Mettaton for the drama queen he was, not the hard mechanical robot you had first seen, and you two grew to enjoy each other’s company. You two loved dancing around willy nilly and singing songs off key when you felt like it, though it was only when you were alone or in close company.

 

Alphys was also involved in your meetings with Mettaton, though she was much more reserved and liked to watch anime and talk about books and science. Since you were quite diverse and flexible in your own likes, you sometimes spent time with the former scientist.

 

After getting to know Metta for a couple months, he decided to also introduced you to his cousin, a ghost monster named Napstablook, or Blooky to friends. He was a very solitary monster, only coming to see you when he wanted to show you a song he liked or chat about basic things. You didn’t mind, and liked seeing him whenever he felt like interacting with you.

 

Another monster you had meet from your time with Alphys was Undyne, a bipedal fish monster with one eye hidden behind an eyepatch, while the other glowed a vibrant yellow. Undyne was a loud, rough and tumble gal, and you and she enjoyed going out to explore the surface and have sparring matches. And it was through Undyne that you met your two personal favorite monsters.

 

The skeleton brothers, Sans and Papyrus, were some of the most complicated beings you had ever met.

 

Sans, at the beginning, didn’t trust anyone other than the few monsters he knew, and was very much abrasive and evasive when it came to meeting you, and he almost always either ignored your presence or was rude to you.

 

His younger brother, Papyrus, was arrogant and egotistical, bordering on narcissistic. He usually just used death threats or bone attacks that almost hit you to keep you away.

 

But in the beginning, both the brothers didn’t trust you, even when your sibling, Frisk, had introduced you with Undyne. The others had taken an almost instant liking to you, or at least a high level of tolerance, but neither skeleton brother would hear of it. Frisk did their best to help you meet them, but in the end, you had managed on your own to gain the brother’s trust.

 

It took the better part of a year, but you were determined to show you wanted to know the brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys want more of my works, I also have, "Undertale (and others): Making Do. (Has more of the AU skeleboys)


	2. Hello's and Goodbye's (for now)

 

* * *

 

When it came down to it, Papyrus was slightly easier to befriend than Sans, his hidden longing for true and loyal friends outweighing his original snobbery. Papyrus was always pretty brash and wary, but you didn’t blame him for it when you learned about their old home in the Underground. But you slowly found that underneath his rough, sharp, and high and mighty attitude, you found that Papyrus was extremely loyal, kind hearted, brave, and in his own way, protective and endearingly slightly possessive of you.

Sans, who always followed his brother to the end, eventually began to trust you as well, although at a very slow pace. But with patience, perseverance, and determination, you eventually found that he was a true comedian and a bit of a softy once you got through his rough and reserved nature.

Recently, you spent most of your free time with the brothers, now that they, for the most part, wholeheartedly trusted you, and you them. You love their company, and like to doing anything and everything with them, and help them adjust to the new life they had, along with your sibling.

Though over time, your other friends started to make a way in their new world. Mettaton had become a famous movie star and had left the town a few months ago with Alphys, Blooky and Undyne.

Undyne had become a police officer in the new town where the four of them lived, while Alphys helped with maintaining Mettaton, and she told you she did some sciencey stuff on the side. You had asked what that entailed, but what she tried to explain to you only sounded like fancy gibberish. You appreciated her efforts, though.

Blooky went where his cousin went, and became a sound hand for Metta's shows.

While you were happy for all of them, you missed their company. And, unfortunately, you lived in a really seedy part of your town, while the four monster friends lived in their own part of a different town that was exponentially nicer and more well protected than where you lived. You were sorely lacking in funds to travel anywhere, so you settled on Skype and such to keep in contact with the four.

As for Sans and Papyrus though, they were content as long as they had each other, so they stayed in your town, though in a nicer location strictly for monsters. You, being related to the savior of the underground, aka your sibling, Frisk, have special access to the monster’s homes along with Frisk. So, since Frisk mostly lived with the queen of monsters, and you were old enough to live on your own, you were, well, on your own.

The skeleton brothers were pretty much your only companions that you had readily available access to, so you took full advantage. They had grown to love your company, as had you them, and you visited often. You were glad you still had people around who you cared for.


	3. A Night in the City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You decide to walk over to the brother's house for a little down time. A walk in the cool night air of the city is all it takes to get there, so why not get a little exercise? It'll do wonders for your health.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's where one of my more serious tags apply. Mugging. There's not too much in the way of description, at least in my eyes. But I've sort of become desensitized to this sort of thing, being a avid reader and writer of angst. Trust me, there's worse out there, as I'm sure some of you know. Just, proceed with caution, k? 
> 
> ❄☟✌☠😐💧

* * *

One day, a couple hours after dark, you decide you were going to pay the brothers a visit for an impromptu late night movie binge. 

 

You text Sans, letting him know you’d be coming by. He responds within a minute, a thumbs up emoji lighting up your phone screen. Smiling and shaking your head at the incorrigible skeleton, you grab your day bag and walk out of your dinky apartment complex. 

 

The place wasn’t much, but it  _was_  your home. At least, the most home you could afford at the time. You refused to take help from Frisk, insisting that if you really needed financial help, you promised you’d let them know. You did not want to adapt to a life where you didn’t have to work hard for a living. There were others who worked just as hard, if not harder, than you, and they had even less than you did. You’d be an honest worker till the day you died. Or at least until you were at risk of being homeless. 

 

As you walked down the sidewalk in the fading light, you barely noticed the shifting figure that started out of the nearby alley. But although you did catch the motion a split second later, you caught it too late. 

 

Three huge men suddenly gang up on you, laughing harshly as they grab you and start dragging you into the darkened alley. One pulls you close to him, and roughly presses his mouth onto yours in an horrific attempt at a kiss. 

 

You manage to kick his shin. Hard. 

 

He yelps in pain, then glares right at you before punching you squarely in the jaw. Bright spots dance in your eyes as you detachedly feel one of the thugs lift you up. 

 

You weakly kick and flail, but the men only laugh harder and start kicking and beating you. 

 

You call and scream for help, but no one comes. 

 

You could only close your eyes tight and pray for it all to be over. A searing pain suddenly rips up your right leg as you felt the bones in it break. You scream again, but that only earned you a direct kick in the ribs, knocking the air out of you and most likely breaking another few bones in the process. 

 

With the constant pain and noise overrunning your senses, you start to believe you were going to die right there in the alley. You decided to desperately try one last  thing before you gave into the looming darkness that was unconsciousness. 

 

You open your soul and let it cry out to anyone who might possibly hear it, expecting nothing to answer. 

 

But, to your overwhelming relief, 

 

two souls immediately roar back.


	4. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone(s) answers your call. This is what happens. 
> 
> (Warning for some stronger language usage in this chapter)
> 
> Hooray, it's a longer chapter too ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Looks at the time* 
> 
> "Midnight? Phhfff. I don't need sleep, I wanna post a chapter for the people. SLEEP IS FOR THE...*head drops on desk from exaushtion*........ZzZZzzzZzz
> 
> I've been editing this chapter FOREVER, but I think I've got it to where I like it. The description in the story for a minor 'soul bond' might be a bit off, but it's how I see it. Hopefully it works out. 
> 
> Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go flop onto a bed full of whoopee cushions so I can laugh at something stupid, cause why not? I'm a writer, I DO WHAT I WANT, THOR.
> 
> XD, I'm crazy, and so help me, sleep deprivation will be the death of me. 
> 
> ZzzZzzZz

* * *

Within seconds, all three of your attackers are cowering against the alley wall in pure terror, gazing into the flaring crimson eyes of Papyrus. He stands defensively in front of you, wielding two vibrant red glowing bones. Each one is sharpened to deadly points at the ends.

 

Sans is at your side, protectively guarding you while he backs up his brother with a bone dagger of his own. Papyrus quickly casts a glance over at you, and his eyelights blink out in horror at your broken, gasping state. 

 

In a furious rage, Papyrus stalks up to the largest of the brutes, though in comparison to Papyrus, the man seems so much smaller. Papyrus's eyes rekindle, flaming even brighter than before with raging magic. He snarls fiercely, dispersing his bone spears. Swiftly, he grabs the man by his collar with a gloved-clawed hand.

 

As Papyrus shoves the thug harshly into the wall, Sans catches the other two attackers by their souls with blue magic. He throws them back into the wall as well, pinning them there. Papyrus tightens his grip on the leader as he questions him, his voice a barely contained hiss.

 

“ WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING TO HER?”

 

The man babbles in fright in Papyrus's hold. 

 

“Nothin’, I swears it!”

 

Papyrus only snaps his jaws in the thug’s face.  “THEN I SUPPOSE SHE SOMEHOW VICIOUSLY MAULED HERSELF, AND YOU WERE GOING TO BE HER FUCKING  _KNIGHTS IN SHINING ARMOR_ , CORRECT?” Papyrus sneers at the man, making him recoil in terror. "SANS. WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE HUMAN."

 

The smaller of the brothers glances over at you, his eyes radiating concern. All you could manage to do was weakly gasp  for air, but despite your pressing need for oxygen, your ribs protest adamantly at every attempt to inhale. Sans slowly helps move you into a better position so you could breathe a little easier, then returns his gaze to his brother.

 

“i... think they woulda killed ‘em... if we hadn’t shown up, boss”

 

Somehow, Papyrus’s eyelights grow impossibly brighter in his fury as he put his face right up to the gang leader’s. 

 

“YOU ARE VERY, VERY, LUCKY YOU DID NOT LIVE IN OUR OLD WORLD, HUMAN. I WOULD HAVE RIPPED YOU TO TINY, BLOODY, INDISTINGUISHABLE SHREDS THE MOMENT I HAD LAID EYES ON YOUR PATHETIC HIDE.”  He pauses, thinking for a brief moment before calling to his brother. " SANS, GET THE HUMAN SOMEPLACE SAFE AWAY FROM HERE. I WILL REJOIN YOU SHORTLY.”

 

Sans starts to sweat light red beads of magic as he carefully rebukes his brother. “boss, don’t hurt ‘em. i know that’s what yer plannin’ on doin’, and believe me, i wanna as badly as you do. but we ain’t in underfell anymore. we got rules ta follow now, alright?”

 

Papyrus continued staring intensely at the leader of the gang, silently deciding his course of action. He eventually sighs. 

 

“I WILL ONLY KEEP THEM HERE UNDER GUARD, BROTHER. NOTHING MORE. JUST GET HER HELP.”

 

Sans looks like he is going to protest, but when he looks at your condition, he nods to his brother in agreement.

 

“just… be careful, alright, bro?”

 

Papyrus looks over to Sans, his eyelights dimming to a normal brightness in a showing of understanding and conviction.

 

“I WILL BE BROTHER. NOW GO.”

 

Sans turns his full attention on you, and takes you carefully into his arms and draws you as close to him without jostling you too much. He teleports you to his home, and immediately takes you into their spare bedroom where he sets you on the bed and runs out to retrieve their medical supplies. He comes back moments later, and goes to work on setting your broken bones. He uses what little healing magic he has to dull the pain slightly as he works, and after a few agonizing minutes on your part, the bones are set into place once more, at least for the most part. 

 

Papyrus returns shortly after and helps Sans bind your ribs and splint your leg, and Papyrus uses his slightly stronger healing abilities to get rid of most of the bruising you received. It doesn’t do anything to further mend the broken bones, but you feel slightly better regardless, and thank the brothers for their help before you fall asleep due to pain and fatigue. 

 

Later, when you wake up, you see Frisk sitting across from you in a chair, their head resting on their palm, fast asleep. You slowly shift into a half sitting, half leaning position, and Frisk snaps out of their sleep to immediately start to sign to you all of their questions. You sign back, too weary to really talk, and the two of you converse in hands for awhile. On multiple occasions, Sans and Papyrus check in on you to make sure you’re doing alright. Sans keeps up a steady stream of conversation, as he and Papyrus are both fully versed in sign language.

 

Papyrus eventually brings some freshly baked home cooked lasagna and joins in the conversation every now and then himself. Once you feel like speaking aloud again, you ask the brothers if they would like you to return to your own home to keep from inconveniencing them while you heal, but you’re met with adamant protests.

 

Papyrus looks appalled by the idea, and he is quick to dismiss it. “DEFINITELY NOT, HUMAN. NOT UNTIL YOU HAVE RECOVERED SUFFICIENTLY ENOUGH FROM YOUR INJURIES.”

 

Sans just half-heartly shrugs and smirks at you. “gotta say i agree with ‘im sweetheart. you should stay with us here until you feel more up to walkin' on yer own”

 

You ask Sans a little while later how they managed to hear you when you called out with your soul. He rubs the back of his skull nervously and calls for his brother to come in. Papyrus stick his head in the doorway, clearly annoyed at being interrupted in whatever he was doing, but also gets slightly anxious when he is asked the posed question.

 

‘WELL, I AM NOT SURE I WILL DO AS WELL AS SANS COULD IN EXPLAINING THIS, BUT, I WILL TRY. WHEN WE FINALLY DECIDED WE TRUSTED YOU AS OUR FRIEND AND CONFIDENT, WE ALLOWED A WEAK CONNECTION TO FORM BETWEEN OUR SOULS. YOUR SOUL HAD ALREADY TRIED TO TIE WITH OURS BEFORE, BUT WE HAD REJECTED THE NOTION. NOW THOUGH, ONCE WE REALIZED YOU WERE NOT A THREAT AND COULD SAFELY CONSENT TO A SOUL TIE WITH YOU, YOUR SOUL HAS BECOME LOOSELY ATTACHED TO OURS. YOU HAVE NOW, AT LEAST IN PART, ACCEPTED US INTO YOUR LIFE, AND WE HAVE YOU. IN A WAY, IT CREATED A SORT OF... SOUL BOND. WE CAN SENSE YOUR STRONGER EMOTIONS, AND YOU, VICE VERSA. IN SHORT THOUGH, WHEN YOU CALLED, WE FELT YOU NEEDED US, AND SO WE CAME.” 

 

 

Papyrus looks to Sans for confirmation, and Sans nods.

 

“bro  pretty much sumed it up, except if anything happens in our ‘relationship’ with you, the bonds can grow stronger or weaker, dependin’ on how things progress. basically, it shows that we, well, care about ‘cha, sweetheart” Both Sans and Papyrus's cheekbones turn a very faint shade of red in embarrassment. 

 

You consider this, and seeing the nervous looks on the brothers’ faces, you realize they are fearing the possibility of you rejecting their feelings towards you. You smile at them, genuine and caring. 

 

“Well, I suppose this is one way to find out if a guy," you look from Sans to Papyrus, "or two, has a crush on you.”

 

Both brothers smile in pleasure and relief, and the three of you talk late into the night, Frisk asleep now on the couch in the living room. You can't talk forever though, and without so much as a thought, you sort of pass out from your body’s demands for sleep to heal.

 


	5. New Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're around the house with just Papyrus today, and you learn a couple things from him while everyone else is out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Underfell Papyrus is my absolute favorite AU skeleton. And he is just so much fun to write for. (Hopefully you guys like my interpretation of him) :)
> 
> I may end up writing short one shots for Mafia/Mobtale or Dancetale later on, as they are also up on my favorite AU list. If you guys have ideas or requests, lemme know. Open to suggestions.
> 
> Seriously, Papyrus as a mobster or latin dancer??? 
> 
> WHO THINKS OF THIS STUFF???

* * *

 

You wake up the next afternoon, feeling quite a bit better than before. Your broken bones still adamantly protest at the slightest movement, but the rest of you feels pretty good.

 

You find that someone, probably Frisk, has left a pair of crutches and a wheelchair beside your bed for later use. You manage to flop off the bed in a very uncoordinated fashion, but you get yourself into the wheelchair with only a little trouble. You adjust yourself accordingly, then roll out the door and into the living room.

 

Papyrus is in the kitchen, and his skull turns to you once he sees you wheeling out of the room. You think you see his eyesockets glimmer in slight concern, but he just smirks over at you and leaves you to yourself. You silently appreciate him not trying to coddle you or forcing you to rest or anything like that. He understands you can handle yourself and that you’ll ask him for help if you need it. You roll over to him, and he looks at you from the corner of his eye.

 

“I CAN SEE YOU FOUND THE ROLLING CHAIR THAT YOUR SIBLING LEFT YOU. ARE YOU DOING ALRIGHT ON YOUR OWN?”

 

His voice carries no implication of force or worry, just a casually posed question .

 

You smile up at the tall skeleton. “I’m doing much better, thanks, Rus.”

 

Papyrus playfully bristles at the nickname, and you can tell he’s holding back a smirk. Only you are permitted to call him Rus, and though Undyne and Sans could call him that without repercussions, they tended to call him 'Paps' in a casual situation. Though Papyrus pretends to abhor the little nickname, you know he secretly accepts it. 

 

You fiddle with the arm of the wheelchair as you carefully ask, “So… what did happen to the guys that jumped me?”

 

Papyrus actually tenses at this, but not from fear of answering. You can see his gloved claws curl in anger as they scrape and dig into the kitchen counter. A snarl forms on his face as he slowly answers, attempting to control his temper.

 

“ONCE YOU AND SANS LEFT,  I CONTACTED THE CANINE UNIT. GREATER AND LESSER DOG CAME TO TAKE THEM TO UNDYNE AT THE HIGHER SECURITY PRISON.  SOMEHOW, THOUGH, THE VILLAINS PLEADED SELF DEFENSE, AND THEY HAVE A COURT TRIAL SET UP FOR A LATER DATE. THEY ARE… PERSISTENT IN THE MINDSET OF HAVING YOU THERE. SANS AND I ARE DOING OUR BEST TO  GET YOU OUT OF IT, BUT THE COURT IS INSISTENT. FRISK AND UNDYNE ARE ATTEMPTING SOMETHING TODAY, BUT EVEN I DON’T KNOW IF IT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.”

 

You frown, upset that the thugs even had the chance to fight you in court.

 

“Do you know when the court date is?”

 

Papyrus shakes his head. “SANS MIGHT. HE IS AT THE PLACE NOW, HELPING FRISK AND UNDYNE.”

 

“Why didn’t you go with them? They probably could have used a great and terrible fighter like yourself.” You smirk and roll slightly closer to Papyrus to nudge his hipbone playfully.

 

Papyrus chuckles lightly at you. “NYEH HEH HEH. DESPITE HOW TRUE THAT IS, HUMAN, UNDYNE IS AN ADEQUATE ENOUGH FIGHTER TO TAKE MY PLACE. AND IF I WENT, WHO WOULD STAY WITH YOU? THOUGH YOU ARE VERY CAPABLE, YOU’RE STILL RECOVERING. BESIDES, I DO NOT MIND BEING HERE.”

 

You know Papyrus is trying to maintain an air of casualty and lightness, but you can tell he truly stayed out of prior concern and worry.

 

You frown slightly in thought. “You think someone would try to attack me again.”

 

Papyrus flinces only a fraction at the words, but you catch it.

 

The effects from Underfell, though in the past, were ingrained deeply in both of the skeleton brothers, if not all the monsters of the Underground. Your friends had told you stories that made your skin crawl and eyes widen in fear.

 

The brothers had told you of times where they had been injured or sick, and even if the stronger sibling at the time stayed to protect them, they were almost guaranteed to be set upon by dust-crazed murdering monsters who would attack at any perceived sign of weakness. The brothers were extremely protective of one another even when they weren’t sick or in bad shape, but the thought than someone could come and easily kill them was always looming in the back of their skulls; even now.

 

Their father had been brutally killed due to a slight weakness. The boys had witnessed it firsthand when they were young, as you accidentally overheard during a major fight they in your first few months meeting them.

 

Their logic was that if an attack that killed a powerful monster such as their father was caused by a minor weakness, it could happen to them in their times of weakness. Or it could happen to anyone they cared about. 

 

Papyrus hesitates for a moment before speaking up. “.....I KNOW IT IS LESS LIKELY FOR AN ATTACK TO HAPPEN TO YOU WHILE YOU ARE HERE ON THE SURFACE, AND IN OUR HOME, BUT…. SANS AND I BELIEVE IT IS SAFER TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE OF US AROUND YOU UNTIL YOU RECOVER ENOUGH TO CARE FOR YOURSELF AGAIN.”

 

You smile at the tall skeleton, understanding.

 

“I understand, Rus. And thank you for watching out for me. You guys are the best.”

 

Papyrus grins proudly, striking a dramatic pose that he does so rarely around anyone else. His scarf flaps majestically in a undetectable breeze. “NYEH! OF COURSE WE ARE, HUMAN!"

 

His face softens into a light smile as he looks at you. "WE WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU NEED US.” Papyrus’s eye lights flash with a brilliant orange for a brief moment before faltering and returning to their default crimson.

 

You are surprised by the glint of orange that had passed in his eyes. You hadn't ever seen either brother's eyelights change color before; they had always been their respective shades of red.

 

“Your….eyelights...” You stare at Papyrus, amazed that his eyes were capable of changing colors.

 

Papyrus jerks as if startled. “WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED WITH MY EYELIGHTS???” Papyrus instinctively covers his left eyesocket, making sure the three large cracks that reside there haven’t changed.

 

"I…um... your eyelights turned orange, Rus. Does… that... mean something?”

 

Papyrus looks stunned, disbelief coloring his face and tone of voice.

 

“YES. ORANGE WAS MY ORIGINAL SOUL TRAIT COLOR. BUT LIVING IN UNDERFELL, HAVING TO COMMIT CERTAIN ACTS, AND EXPERIENCING CERTAIN THINGS CAUSED MY PRIMARY TRAIT TO SHIFT TO SECONDARY, AND CRIMSON QUICKLY BECAME MY NEW TRAIT COLOR. SINCE THE CHANGE, MY EYELIGHTS HAVE STAYED CRIMSON, NOT BEING ABLE TO SWITCH BACK TO ORANGE  OR EVEN A DEFAULT WHITE LIKE SANS AND I'S USED TO BE. BUT IF WHAT YOU SAY IS TRUE, IT MEANS THAT I AM POSSIBLY BEGINNING TO TAP BACK INTO MY OLD TRAIT, WHICH BY ALL MEANS, SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE. BUT APPARENTLY…. IT HAS SOMEHOW HAPPENED.”

 

A true smile, a rarity from Papyrus, spreads across his face before he reigns it back into a smirk. He kneels down beside you and carefully plants a chaste skeleton kiss on your cheek.

 

“SANS WAS RIGHT. YOU ARE QUITE REMARKABLE, HUMAN."  Papyrus smirks at you. "BUT DO NOT TELL HIM I SAY SO, HE WOULD NEVER LET ME HEAR THE END OF IT.”

 

A red blush rises to your cheeks, but all it does is make Papyrus grin at you with sharp teeth. He asks offhandedly of you’d like to help him make dinner for when Sans gets back, and Sans will probably have all your other close monster friends in tow.

 

They had all heard about the attack and were outraged, but all too willing to help in any way they could for you.

 

You nod at Papyrus, and once he gets up and starts walking into the kitchen, you wheel after him, a smile lighting up your face.


	6. Unwinding with the Gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all that's happened, you just decide you need to chill out a little. Your friends are paying a visit for dinner and a couple movies, so let the good times roll!

* * *

 

You and Papyrus spend a little over an hour in the kitchen, letting conversation swirl easily between you. It's never easy to have a lull in conversation when Papyrus is around. After you two finish making a lasagna large enough to feed a herd of horses, Sans comes back. His ever present sharp smile is slightly strained and tired, but once he sees the two of you in the kitchen enjoying yourselves, the smile becomes more genuine. He offers to set the table, which almost gives Papyrus a hypothetical heart attack.

 

In the end, the three of you are ready when the others arrive. Mettaton, Alphys and Undyne show up around 7 o'clock, Frisk accompanying. To your delight, even shy Napstablook comes. Frisk runs straight up to you, signing questions about if you’re doing alright and how you feel. You laugh at their eagerness, watching them stumble over their signs in their haste. You answer them in sign that you’re doing fine, and the brothers are taking perfect care of you. Frisk huffs in mock arrogance, signing, * _they’d better be. I didn’t help them befriend you for nothing.*_ You just laugh and ruffle their hair, which earns you muffled noises of affectionate protest. Mettaton comes over to you and places a kiss on the top of your head before looking you up and down. A sad smile crosses his face.

 

“I suppose it will be awhile before we can have another dance battle, hmm, darling?”

 

You grin in mock ferocity. “Don’t worry, Metta. As soon as I’m back on my feet, you and I will finally duke it out in an show of epic proportions to see who’s the better dancer. Of course, you'll side with me, right, Napsta?”

 

Napstablook looks over at you, summons his top hat and winks at you, the hat tipping down towards you in a respectful manner. Mettaton dramatically gasps and looks offended, though mockingly, and then goes over to his cousin to chat about a recent pop song that just came out.

 

You see Sans glance over at you, and you smile at him. He flashes you a quick grin, his gold tooth glinting in the light. He turns back to Undyne, Frisk, and Papyrus, apparently engaged in a heated conversation. You begin to wheel over to them, but Alphys shuffles nervously over to you. You smile kindly at the small lizard monster, and she gives you a small but genuine smile back.

 

“Heya, Al. How are you?”

 

“Ooh! I-I’m doing f-fine, thanks fo-for asking. But… what I w-wanted to kn-know was, ho-how are you?”

 

You grin at the shy lizard monster. “I’ve been better, but I’m managing. The boys are a big help. And as long as I'm distracted, I kinda forget I'm stuck in this chair. I’ll probably be up and about in a few months, probably four of five at the most till I’m completely patched up though.”

 

Alphys nods. "Well, I'm just glad you're d-doing alright. Oh! Did you end up s-seeing R-ragnarok? Undyne and I saw it yesterday!"

 

You two launch into a full blow discussion about the newest Marvel movie. You both agree Thor is not the brightest bulb in the box, and you both strongly agree that Loki has massive daddy and self esteem issues and is just completely misunderstood. But maybe that's just the fan fiction and anime tropes talking, but the two of you will never admit it.

 

After awhile of chatting with Alphys, you wheel around for a bit, talking once again with Metta and Blooky about Metta’s newest hit music video, which Blooky created the music for. You let them know it’s one of your favorite songs now, and they both seem greatly pleased, Mettaton chatting eagerly about how popular it's become and how proud he is of it, while Napstablook blushes with the praise and mutters something that sounds like, "Well,.. I'm glad you liked it,..... even if it could have been better...."

 

After about a half hour of general chatter, you all move into the dining room to eat.

 

The general conversation flows around you at a comfortable pace, and you jump in here and there when you hear something being discussed that catches your interest.

 

But after awhile, the topic turns to what happened to you. You’re not sure how, exactly, you just know that one moment you were discussing with Blooky what kind of dessert Papyrus had made, to you overhearing Sans suddenly take a rough edge on in his voice and tersely conversing with Mettaton about the court date in the nearing future.

 

Mettaton's voice is comforting, as if trying to calm Sans down from a possible bout of temper. “All I’m saying, my dear, is that all of us are here to help, in any way we can.”

 

Sans runs a hand down his face in frustration, not at Mettaton, but at the feeling of helplessness in the situation presented. “i know, metta, but even i’m not entirely sure what ta’ expect. thought the thugs would just be locked up immediately, but nope! gotta a stars damned plea deal to possibly prove that _they_ were the victims of me and my bro’s wrath. ya’know, us being _dangerous, rouge monsters_ who are looking for every opportunity to overthrow humankind.”

 

Undyne suddenly slams her fist into the table, cause the silverware to rattle and you to jump in unexpected fright. “NNAGH! Why do those disgusting excuses for humans think they can get away with hurtin’ _my_ punk! I **SWEAR** , if we were back in the Underground, they’d of been _**DEALT**_ **WITH** the _**RIGHT**_ **WAY** the _**FIRST**_ **TIME**!”

 

Papyrus turns and addresses Undyne in resigned frustration. “AND AS MUCH AS WE AGREE WITH YOU, UNDYNE, IF WE ATTACKED, OR EVEN THREATENED THEM, WE’D ONLY ADD MORE CONVICTION TO THE OPPOSING HUMAN’S CASE, NO MATTER WHAT OUR CIRCUMSTANCES OR REASONS FOR DOING SO ARE.”

 

Though you try to listen, the whole idea of having to retell your story to a judge and possibly have the people who attacked you walk free just because your rescuers were monsters; you couldn’t handle that too well at the moment. Both Frisk and Papyrus seem to pick up on your mounting distress, and Papyrus makes the excuse to get up to clear the dishes and asks you to help. Frisk also rises, moving to clear away everyone’s plates.

 

Once Frisk finishes, they come back over to you. You feel slight relief as Frisk goes behind your chair and pushes you into the kitchen behind Papyrus. You know both your friend and your sibling have created a way for you to clear off from the nerve-inducing talk, so you wheel off into the guest room to recompose yourself. Frisk follows, and once they close the door behind you, starts a calm, basic talk with you through signing, asking how you like staying with the brothers. You easily sign back, telling them that you’ve been greatly enjoying yourself, despite the injuries, and that you had learned a bit. Curious, Frisk asks what you’ve found out. You tell them about Papyrus’s eyelights turning color, and Frisk immediately gets excited, signing rapidly about how they didn’t even know that could happen. You explain you don’t know much about it yourself, and that they should ask the brothers if Frisk wants to know more. After a few minutes of your quiet, calming chat, Sans opens the door.

 

“heya, kiddos. we’re all gonna watch a movie 'er two in the livin’ room and eat dessert if ya’ wanna join in”

 

You look to Frisk, who is nodding at Sans. You turn to the skeleton and grin. “Sure, Sans. We’re coming.”

 

Frisk carefully climbs into your lap, careful not to lean against your chest. You smirk at your younger sibling and wheel out of the room behind Sans. You all go into the living room, where Frisk promptly removes themselves from your lap to plop directly in Mettaton’s, who is settled on the floor. Although at first surprised, Mettaton gives a fluttery laugh and wraps his four arms securely yet gently around Frisk. Blooky settles down beside his cousin.

 

Undyne is on the couch with Alphys in her lap, and both of them are grinning madly. Papyrus had apparently finished cleaning up in the kitchen, unsurprisingly, as he is on the other end of the couch by himself, though is crimson eyelights snap onto you and Sans as soon as you enter the room.

 

Sans grins at his brother, then, just to be a pure show-off, vaults himself over the back of the couch and lands next to Papyrus with a *plop*. Everyone who had been watching gapes at Sans, looking absolutely stunned that he actually exerted himself in any way. Papyrus, on the other hand, just huffs and rolls his eye lights in annoyance, muttering under his breath about something you can't hear.

 

Sans sends the group a causal smirk, then leans comfortably against Papyrus. Papyrus crosses his arms and looks down at Sans with a deadpan expression, clearly unimpressed. Sans smiles smugly at his brother, and Papyrus rolls his eye lights again.

 

Without warning, Papyrus promptly shoves him off of him, causing Sans to unceremoniously flop over to the other end of the couch, face planting into a pillow. Sans flips awkwardly around and shoots Papyrus an annoyed glance, though Papyrus only gives Sans a self-satisfied smirk.

 

Papyrus then uses his blue magic to insert the first movie into the DVD player. You roll your chair up to the side of the couch with Papyrus, and he quickly looks over at you, lets a half smile cross his face, then returns his attention to the movie.


	7. Planning Your Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're sick of being cooped up in the house. Time to do something about it.
> 
> Execute plan: Distract the Skelebros.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going on a trip, so new chapter won't be out for a while, unless I decide to post one tomorrow morning. Enjoy!

* * *

Over the next week, you transition from the wheelchair to the crutches, much to Sans’ annoyance. Papyrus doesn’t protest as often as Sans, only stating in a dry, off-handed manner, “ PERHAPS YOU WON’T TAKE UP SO MUCH ROOM IN THE KITCHEN NOW.”  But though Papyrus lets you make most of your own choices and usually goes along with them, you can tell he is also as concerned as Sans with how quickly you swapped the chair for, as Papyrus puts it, “extra metal legs.” But, despite them both being mostly cool with you being up, they still are extremely against the idea of you going out. Like, at all. 

 

Knowing where they’re from, you know they have a deeply ingrained fear, though they try to hid it, of anyone with even a slight flaw being demolished or taken away in the harsh world that was Underfell. Though they themselves know it’s irrational, it’s incredibly hard for them to shake that fear. And it doesn’t help that you had endorsed it before. 

 

But, after what you considered enough time being cooped up in the brother's house, you decide you’re going to go to Grillby’s, without telling the boys. You know it’s a stupid idea, the guys will be enraged, Frisk will tan your hide, and your most of your other friends will all give you their variations of disapproval. Despite all of that, you decide to screw the consequences. You hide a short, sharp blade in each of the crutches, and a small dagger in one of the sleeves of your long sleeved shirt, easily accessible with a simple flick. Usually your fists and legs were suitable weapons, but they were out of commission for now. So, better safe than sorry. 

 

Sans drops off to sleep early, having had a long shift the previous night and early morning at his current job as a bouncer at Grillby’s bar. He has other jobs, sure, but Grillby called in a favor and Sans couldn’t turn it down, no matter how hard he tried. So, as a result, Sans was out like a light when he came home and most likely would be until the following day, unless of course, Papyrus woke him up. 

 

And speaking of.

 

Papyrus on the other hand… well, he was a different problem. Papyrus hardly ever slept, being on high alert at all times during the day. It was a long lasting effect of living in Underfell and being the guardian of the two. Being awake meant less chances of being attacked or having a better chance of defending. And when he did sleep, it was only if he knew the environment he would sleep in was about 99.9% safe or higher, or if he knew Sans would be awake to keep watch and guard, which was uncommon. As a result, Papyrus was pretty much always on his guard, and even when he did sleep he would wake up at the drop of a hat. You knew that from two separate experiences, both of which made you acutely aware of how sharp Papyrus’s senses still despite being away from Underfell for three years. So. You call who you think can help, and was the only one who’d most likely support your plan in the first place. 

 

*ACT*

*USE PHONE*

*CALL STRONGFISH*

* _ ring ring* _

 

StrongFish: “Heya, Punk! What’s up?”

 

You: “Hey, Undyne. Are you busy?”

 

StrongFish: “Not for you! Why?”

 

You: “I… need a favor.”

 

StrongFish: “.....What kinda favor?”

 

You: “I... need you to distract Papyrus for awhile. Maybe a couple hours, three at most.”

 

StrongFish: “Right now?”

 

You: “As soon as possible would be great.”

 

StrongFish: “And what am I possibly doing this for?”

 

You: “I need to get out of the house. They won’t let me leave, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I need a break. So, are you going to help or not?”

 

StrongFish: “OF COURSE I WILL, PUNK! I’ll be over in a little while! See you then!”

 

You: “Thanks, Dyne. See you.”

 

*ACT*

*END CALL*

*click*

 

You hang up, hoping that this would work out. Something shifts in the corner of your vision, but when you turn to look, you just see that Papyrus has moved from the  kitchen to make for his room upstairs. Oh shoot, did he hear you?

 

“Rus!”

 

Papyrus turns on the stairs, and cocks his head slightly to the side.

 

“YES, HUMAN?”

 

“What are you up to?’

 

Papyrus puff up a little, though it’s not much considering he has no real chest to puff out, but the effort is there. 

 

“I AM GOING TO BE WORKING ON MY ATTACK PATTERNS. BUT I MUST RETRIEVE MY SCARF FROM MY ROOM BEFOREHAND.”

 

You shrug and sigh internally. “Alright then. Have fun.”

 

He nods at you, then gets his scarf. A moment later he poses at the top of the stairs dramatically, the scarf flapping madly despite there being absolutely no breeze or  wind in the house. Not even a draft. 

 

How?!? 

 

You just laugh at Pap’s dramatic flair, and he comically struts down the stairs, flashing you a smirk as he heads outside. You duck into your own room and set out a change of clothes for later.

 

You hope this works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe you would list Undyne as StrongFish because it's her undernet screen name, and she'd insist you use it as her contact name. 
> 
> Maybe Papyrus is CoolSkeleton, but I'll let you guys decide. :)


	8. Spear of Justice! (And Timely Convenience)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne shows up to help with your master plan. Let the distractions begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to post one more before I go, *shrugs* Sue me. :D

* * *

 

Undyne shows up about an hour later. Without warning, she kicks down the front door, at which Sans immediately jumps up with his left eye flaring red, and a sharp bone construct floating dangerously close to Undyne’s face. When he sees it’s Undyne, he backs off his attack and sneers at her. She only grins maniacally at him and tips her head to the side. Sans waves his hand to the back door, where Papyrus is out training. Undyne’s smile somehow widens, and she tromps through the living room to the back door. Sans just shakes his head, clearly questioning his brother’s choice of ‘friends’. He doesn’t seem to dwell on it long, as he promptly lays back down and attempts to fall asleep again. 

 

“ **PAPYRUS** !”  Undyne’s yell echoes into the room. Sans grunts, then swiftly disappears with a *pop* of displaced air, presumably teleporting up to his own room for some quiet. 

 

Papyrus’s confused voice comes from the yard.  “UNDYNE? WHAT IN ASGORE’S NAME ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

 

“YOU’RE COMING WITH ME, BONEHEAD!”

 

“YOUR ATTEMPT AT PUNS ARE…. NYEH!!!”  You stifle a laugh as you hear Papyrus definitely  _ not  _ squawk in protest. “ UNDYNE !  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO NOOGIE THE SKELETON! NYEH!”

 

You make your way out into the backyard to see Papyrus in a headlock from Undyne, who is attempting to noogie the skeleton’s skull. Quickly, Papyrus twists in her  grasp and slips out of the hold, only to slip behind her, kick her legs out from under her, and have her sent to the ground. Papyrus quickly moves over her prone form, and summons a bone attack. The blunt end of the glowing red bone in his hand rests underneath her chin, and he tilts her head up to look at him. Papyrus’s face remains stoic as Undyne glares at him. After a moment though, she just starts breaking up laughing.

 

“Guess I taught you a little TOO well, huh, Paps?”

 

Papyrus has the smallest of smirks on his face as he answers. “ I ONLY OBEYED EVERY COMMAND YOU GAVE ME TO THE LETTER WHILE I WAS UNDER YOUR TRAINING AS A CADET. AND WITH ASGORE EVENTUALLY FIGHTING AND SPARRING WITH ME, I MANAGED TO GAIN A SLIGHT UPPER HAND.  HAVING SANS AROUND ALSO HELPS.”  Papyrus dismisses his bone attack and offers a hand to his former captain.

 

“SANS?!? What does he even DO at ALL??”  Papyrus only smirks. Undyne rolls her eyes as she accepts Papyrus’s hand and gets up off the ground. “ Guess that’s why they eventually made you captain, huh, Paps?”

 

Papyrus gives Undyne a look you can’t really interpret.  “I WOULD PREFER NOT TO DISCUSS THIS WHILE THE HUMAN IS AROUND, UNDYNE. NOW WHAT IS IT THAT BRINGS YOU HERE?”

 

“Came to take you out for awhile. Like old times!”

 

Papyrus gives her a skeptical glance.

 

“AND HOW MUCH OF WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO RESEMBLES THE “OLD TIMES”, UNDYNE?”

 

“Aw, come’on, Papyrus. Let’s just go have some fun and LIVE a little!” 

 

Undyne clasps Papyrus’s upper arm, and pulls him towards the front door. He doesn’t really resist, but sort of turns in her grip to face you as he’s pulled. 

 

“DON’T GET YOURSELF INTO ANY TROUBLE WHILE WE’RE GONE, HUMAN. IF YOU NEED ME, YOU KNOW MY NUMBER, OR JUST GET SANS, IF YOU CAN WAKE HIM, THAT IS.”  He pauses in thought for a moment, then says in a half serious, half joking tone,  “SCRATCH THAT, JUST CALL ME. IT WOULD BE FASTER IN ANY CASE.”

 

You laugh and nod after him, and he follows after Undyne, or is dragged, either or. You can hear them exchanging curses in their playfully angry banter, and you smirk after them. It had been so long since Papyrus had done anything with his old friend, since he was busy and so was she, so you were pleased it had worked out. 

 

You went back to your room, though before you did you let Sans know that Papyrus had gone with Undyne. He gave the shortest of acknowledging grunts, and you left him to his sleep. You changed clothing as quickly as you could, then went downstairs and out the front door, careful to close it softly and lock it behind you. You were free. 


	9. Power Surge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're out and about on your own. Time for some light hearted fun! You've deserved it after being cooped up, and now nothing will get in the way of your fun!
> 
> So, some of the guys in the story have an accent. Hope they fit and that I did them right!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Miss me much? I know I've really missed posting/writing, so I'm happy to be back to updating! (Might change title later, idk what to put rn.)
> 
> Ice Wolf's text is in bold, fyi.

* * *

 

Your crutches crunch in the snow on the way to the little hole-in-the-wall tavern. The brothers’ home isn’t far from the bar, maybe just a block or so away. Still, after your last at night encounter, you’re extra vigilant. Fortunately though, you make it to the place without any problems. As you’re about to open the door, a large white dog monster quickly moves out from behind and opens the door for you with one muscular arm, while the other holds a formidable looking single bladed battle ax. You look up, and a feral looking face looks down at you, but is wreathed in a smile.

 

“Hiya, Dogamy.”

 

“HUMAN! It has been too long! Come in!”  He notices your crutches, and a frown crosses his face.  “What happened to you, friend?”

 

You give an awkward shrug. “Don’t worry bout it right now, Dogamy. If you really want to know, I’ll tell you later. Is everyone else here?”

 

You had been to Grillby’s on several occasions; Sans insisting you come with him the first time, though Papyrus opted out. You eventually enjoyed coming on your own later on. The regulars had come to know you and accept you, and you enjoyed being around them. The group of dog monsters were probably your favorite, each with their own distinct and quirky personality. You hadn’t been to the bar in awhile though, so it was nice to finally have the chance to catch up with them.

 

Dogamy walks into the bar behind you. “Yes! My wife, Doggo, Greater and Lesser are all here! Come, sit, join us!”

 

Dogamy walks ahead into the back of the bar, you trailing right behind him. You went over to the table where the other dogs sat, all of them barking welcomes at you. You sit down and begin talking with all the dogs, asking how they’ve been and what they’ve been up to in the past couple months since you’d last seen them. 

 

Lesser and Greater tell you (through Dogaressa who translates) that they have both taken jobs at a nightclub, acting as bouncers. 

 

Doggo works at the nightclub as well, but as an assistant bartender/security guard. 

 

Dogamy and Dogaressa are about to have their first pup, much to the couple’s joy and slight anxiety. You assure them they’ll do fine.

 

Dogeressa gives you a small but sincere smile. “Thank you human. We have just found out it will be a boy, and we’ve decided to call him Doggary. What do you think?”

 

You grin in excitement for the two. “I think that’s a wonderful name, Ressa. I’m sure you’ll both make awesome parents.”

 

A moment later, you feel a warmth radiating from behind you. You turn, and a man made of flickering purple flame stands behind you, with his arms crossed, and what looks to be an eyebrow raised. 

 

You put on a surprised smile. “Oh! Hiya, Grillby! Umm, what’s up?”

 

Grillby looks at you like, “do you think I’m stupid” and jerks his head over to your crutches and gives you a questioning glare. The Dogs also curiously look at you, wanting to know. 

 

You start to feel a little anxious. “Look, guys, I’m not sure you want to get involved with what that was. The skeleton brothers and Undyne are both already working on the issue, and it’s being handled. Don’t worry about it, ok?”

 

The dogs all seem satisfied since the previous captains Undyne and Papyrus were mentioned, as they were easily pacified with their superiors’ capabilities. They had served under both of them in previous times, and knew the two were perfectly capable to handle most situations. 

 

Grillby, on the other hand, somehow rolls his eyes and looks like he’s about to say something. At that moment though, the bar doors swing open and quite a few large figures step in from out of the cold. One stands quite a bit taller than the rest, and though you’d never seen him in person before, you knew who it was. 

 

His name is Ice Wolf, a massive bipedal grey wolf who used to lift massive ice blocks that were chock full of smuggled ‘commodities’ back in the underground. His name was fairly well known among the patrons at the bar, and he was known to answer to no one, even back in the Underground. A jovial, yet still slightly crazed feral grin crosses his face as he looks at the fire elemental barkeep.

 

**“‘Ello, Grillbz! ‘Ows about a noice drink ‘ere fer me an’ me mates?”**

 

Grillby is about to turn to go back behind the counter, when all of a sudden a small Icecap at Ice Wolf’s side speaks up. 

 

“Eya, boss. Look. Der’s a human over dere by da pups. Wan us ta get ‘em?”

 

The black eyes of Ice Wolf immediately fall on you, and the joy in his previous smile disappears. 

 

**“Ey, now, Capers, I think yer right. If that ain’t a runt of a human righ' there, I might just ‘ave ta go get me eyes checked. Barkeep, thought ya weren’t the kind ta let the scum of the earth walk through that there door a yours. Wha' gives?”**

 

Grillby turns to the small gang, which you’ve also noticed has an Aaron, Snowdrake, and Gyftrot along with the other two. All of the are glaring your way, waiting for Wolf’s order. 

 

Grillby looks back at the little gang and lets a small, jagged smile cross his usually stoic features. “ _ They are Captain Papyrus’s ‘charge’.”  _

 

Most of the group looks to Wolf, waiting to see his reaction. He only laughs.

 

**“Oh? Tha' ol’ baga bones? An’ wass he gonna do? Come ‘ere an’ get me? Tear me lim' from lim'? Oi, I’m shakin’ in me fur!”** His eyes snap back to you and narrow.  **“Now then, mates. Shall we show this 'ere human what we do to ‘em when they cross our territory?”**

 

The dogs at your table all stand up and growl ferociously, ready to aid in your defense. You yourself grab one of the knives you brought with you and get into the best defensive stance you can manage. Grillby simply walks straight up to Ice Wolf and looks him dead in the eye. 

 

“ _ Back down.” _

 

Ice Wolf shoves his face closer to Grillby and grins maniacally. 

 

**“Make me, gov'ner.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missed you all!
> 
> And HOLY COW THIS HAS 527 VIEWS!?!? THIS SURPASSED MY OTHER WORK! (the other came out like a full week and a half before!)
> 
> ❄☟✌☠😐💧 ☞☜☹☹✌💧✏✏✏ ✋ ☹⚐✞☜ ✡🕯✌☹☹✏ 
> 
> ☞☼⚐💣📪
> 
> ❄☟☜ 💣✌☠ 🕈☟⚐ 👍✌💣☜ ☞☼⚐💣 ❄☟☜ ⚐❄☟☜☼ 🕈⚐☼☹👎


	10. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's basically an all out war in Grillby's bar tonight, Ice Wolf and his gang after your head, and the Dogs fighting back with all they've got. 
> 
> You can only hope you don't die tonight.
> 
> (I took some creative liberty in a few of the character's attacks, since idk what Ice Wolf's attacks would be. So, ice would be a reasonable idea, right?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love music so much and this title just seemed exceedingly appropriate. Time to get a little action in. ;)

Grillby’s mouth splits into a jagged smile at Ice Wolf's challenge, and his flames rise rapidly in an angry warning, the tips burn a vivid bright blue to show the rising temper of the fire elemental.

 

Ice Wolf sneers at the display then laughs condescendingly. He smugly eyes Grillby, then spits directly into Grillby’s face, making the fire elemental flinch as steam fizzes from the saliva hitting his flames. A hiss escapes Grillby’s jaws, both a reaction to minor pain and mounting anger. Grillby’s fire burns even higher and brighter, and two wildly flickering balls of blue and purple fire appear in his hands. Grillby is clearly ready for a fight, but before he has the chance to do anything in retaliation, Ice Wolf lets out a sharp bark of a laugh and summons multiple ice attacks to pummel the fire elemental.

 

Grillby is forced to back off in the surprise flash attack, though multiple of the attacks hit him, some dead on. Steam cascades over the fire elemental as he tries to keep from snuffing out. Doggo barks in anger at Ice Wolf and he gets directly in front of Grillby, his daggers glinting in the light. Doggo starts hacking and slashing at the ice storm Ice Wolf continues to summon, Doggo fighting with all his power to protect and aid in the retreat of the barkeeper to a safer location.

 

Once Grillby gets safely into another room to rekindle his flames, Ice Wolf signals to his crew. The Gyftrot paws and snorts at the ground for a moment before rearing on his hind legs, then charging for Greater Dog, who now has his spear at the ready.

 

The Snowdrake cackles and goes straight for Lesser, who barks in fury and surges forward to meet the Snowdrake head on.

 

Both of the Dogi go for Ice Wolf, the Dogamy and Dogeressa looking enraged as they begin snarling and snapping at Wolf, their axes practically bristling in their paws.

 

Though the dogs begin fighting to protect in earnest, that unfortunately leaves you with both Aaron and Icecap, and you all you can do is wield your knife defensively.

 

You try to calm them down, though you know that’s unlikely. “Come on, guys. Just… back up, leave, and this doesn’t have to happen.”

 

The Icecap only laughs at you in a high pitched screech, and manages to knock your oddly held crutches out from under you, so you fall hard onto the floor, dropping your knife and crutches and twisting your bad leg under you. Fighting the pain, you back off, and try to regain some footing. You’re too late in seeing Aaron come at you, and he throws a fist right into your right side ribs, making you gasp for air.

 

Thankfully, you recover enough for the moment and manage to get a good grip on one of the nearby crutches. You lift it swiftly above you with both hands and bring it cracking down on Aaron’s head, leaving the big monster stunned. Icecap cackles wildly at you and throws magical attacks at an alarming pace, most of them hitting you, seeing as you can’t fight all of them at once.

 

Once the torrent of bullets subsides, you fall back, trying to cover up the bleeding gashes you now have on your face, torso, and upper legs. Icecap laughs again before approaching you, his face twisted in unchecked maniacal glee. You try to scramble backwards, but he’s already made it so close to you that you can feel the chilling aura he exudes.

 

Before he can attack though, a huge battle axe comes flying expertly between the two of you and it lands with a resounding “crack* as it splits the floorboards and buries itself deep into the wooden floor. You shiver in fright as you notice that there’s only an inch of space between the deadly shine of the axeblade and the sweat now dripping off Ice Cap’s face. Dogamy snarls ferociously at the Ice Cap, drawing it’s and your attention. His voice is no more than a guttural growl.

 

“RUN.”

 

The Icecap completely loses all its nerve and retreats back to Ice Wolf’s side, almost tripping over itself in its blind scrambling to safety.

 

Ice Wolf is now standing over two unconscious members of the Canine group.

 

Lesser and Greater are both out cold on the floor, bleeding but breathing and not being attacked anymore, thank the stars.

 

Doggo seemed to have come back from helping Grillby at some point, now going up against the Gyftrot, daggers and antlers crashing and colliding with one another.

 

Dogaressa is trying to fight off the Snowdrake and now Icecap at once, her axe blade arching and swinging at the opponents with deadly accuracy and strength.

 

Dogamy plants himself protectively in front of you. He uses one paw to wrench his axe out of the floorboards with one powerful yank. As soon as the axe is gripped tightly in his paws, Dogamy's hackles raise in challenge to Ice Wolf. The larger grey canine responds in kind, and the two are just about to go head to head when the front door bursts off its hinges with a “ _CRACK_ ” and flies across the room and hits the opposing wall with a resounding “ **_BANG_ **”.

 

 As the door crashes onto the floor, everyone still conscious stops their fighting to stare at the two looming figures now standing in the open doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray, a cliffhanger! Who's your guess as to who shows up?
> 
> New chapter soon! :D


	11. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting (Part 2)

* * *

 

You glance over to the now throughly broken doorway. Your mouth drops slightly in shock as you see the tall form of Papyrus standing there evaluating the situation with Undyne at his side, her two summoned spears alight with green magic in her hands. You can’t read Papyrus’s true emotions behind the mask of nonchalance and unconcern he’s wearing. His eyes rove slowly around the room, taking in the aftermath of the fight. His eyelights do pause for the briefest second when they see you, and some sort of emotion flickers in them that disappears too quickly to discern. Concern perhaps? 

 

On the other hand, when Undyne sees you, she tilts her head to you in question. You give a faint grin and wave her off in a gesture saying you’ll be fine. With that Undyne begins to grin madly, looking only too eager to join in a fight.

 

Ice Wolf turns away from Dogamy, then cocks his head mockingly at the pair. 

 

**“What in fuckin’ blazes are you doin’ here,** **_‘Captain’_ ** **?”**

 

He spits the last word out in hatred, and he glares daggers at the figures who stand before him. He snarls, and without warning, throws multiple attacks rapidly at both of the former captains of the Royal Guard.

 

Undyne gleefully goes about hacking and chopping at the various attacks, her eye gleaming bright yellow in her battle frenzy. Papyrus merely summons a single crimson bone construct and with an air of disinterest, flicks the attacks away, almost like a casual gesture. When the torrent of attacks stop, both he and Undyne walk a bit into the bar, now fully able to see the extent of what’s happened.

 

Undyne crazedly looks from Papyrus to Wolf, her sharp grin flashing at Wolf threateningly. Her voice is laced with barely kept anticipation of a brawl.

 

“So, Paps, you wanta just kill ‘em all now, or can we have a little fun and give ‘em a fuckin’ well deserved beat down already?”

 

“AS MUCH AS I WOULD DEARLY LOVE TO DO SO, UNDYNE, WE SHOULD GIVE THEM SOME SORT OF CHANCE TO MAKE AN EXCUSE, AS I’M SURE WE’LL BE THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINED WITH THEIR PATHETIC EFFORTS. THEN, ONCE THEY FINISH WITH THEIR FEEBLE ATTEMPTS, I AM SURE SOME SORT OF ‘BEAT DOWN’ CAN BE ARRANGED.” 

 

Undyne looks positively excited at the prospect of an upcoming fight, but when she and Papyrus look expectantly at Ice Wolf to hear an explanation, he only gives a feral growl and charges right at Papyrus, not even bothering to summon any attacks. His sharp white teeth flash as he lunges for any part of Papyrus he can get ahold of. Papyrus rolls his eyelights as he side steps, and lets Wolf crash headlong into a wall.

 

The other monsters in the room continue to stare on, watching the interaction go down. Even Undyne backs off, though she comes straight over to you and stays beside you, a spear crackling with anxious magic in her hand.

 

At this point, Ice Wolf has recovered from his head-butting the wall, and has whipped around to snarl once again at Papyrus. Though Ice Wolf looks absolutely terrifying at the moment, Papyrus just regards him disdainfully, giving the massive wolf a quick once over. He crosses his arms and eyes Wolf cooly.

 

“WAS THAT IT? MY, WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT YOU’VE BECOME IF  _ THAT _ IS THE BEST YOU CAN MANAGE.”

 

Ice Wolf sneers, then lets out a harsh barking laugh.

 

**“Oi, and what are you gonna do bout it, gov’ner? S’not like you’ve been doin’ any betta’. Stickin’ ‘round those abominations; thought you’d be better than tha’,** **_cap’in._ ** **But unfortunately for ya, seems ya just can’t help goin’ back to yer gutter rat upbringin’. Yer horrific excuse of a ‘brotha’’ ya got’s always been like tha’, ya’know. Heh. Like they say, once a rubbish pile of steamin' sewer trash, always a….”**

 

Before Ice Wolf can finish his sentence, Papyrus rapidly moves from his former spot to right in front of Wolf, brandishing a bone dagger right below Wolf’s chin. You blink. How did he move so fast?

 

Papyrus’s eyelights blaze bright crimson.  “THAT IS ENOUGH. I USUALLY DO NOT TAKE PERSONAL OFFENCE WHEN INSULTS ARE SO CRUDELY THROWN AT ME. BUT HERE YOU ARE, INSULTING MY  _ BROTHER,  _ OF ALL PEOPLE, AND BLATANTLY ATTACKING SOMEONE WHO IS UNDER MY PROTECTION.  I SUPPOSE YOU FORGET WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE WHO DID THE SAME UNDERGROUND?” 

 

Ice Wolf tries to answer, only to get the dagger pressed a bit closer, causing him to choke slightly.

 

“AH, MY MISTAKE, OF COURSE YOU FORGOT. YOU HAVE NOT THE BRAINPOWER TO REMEMBER THAT IT IS STILL AGAINST THE KING’S LAW TO INSULT,  THREATEN, OR ATTACK WHAT IS IN ALLIANCE WITH OUR MAJESTIES. AND THOUGH WE ARE ON THE SURFACE NOW, ANY THREAT YOU THROW AT  _ ANYONE,  _ JEST OT NOT,  IS ALMOST AUTOMATICALLY KNOWN BY HIS AND HER MAJESTY. AND I’M SURE YOU KNOW THEIR POLICIES ON PEACE BY NOW? THOSE WHO…  _ FORGET… _ ANSWER TO  **_ME_ ** **.”**

 

Papyrus promptly shoves Ice Wolf away, causing the big wolf to stagger backwards at the unexpected motion. 

 

“LEAVE THIS PLACE, AND DO NOT RETURN, UNLESS OTHERWISE PERMITTED BY THE OWNER, MYSELF, OR THEIR MAJESTIES.   **DO** **I MAKE MYSELF** **_CLEAR?”_**

 

Papyrus glares hard at Wolf until the defeated opponent give a grudging nod. 

 

Papyrus turns from him and starts to make his way over to the unconscious dogs. Without any warning though, Ice Wolf barrels towards Papyrus, baring his teeth and claws. 

 

Before anyone can even warn him, Papyrus quickly spins around, summons a bone spear, and lunges swiftly toward Ice Wolf, aiming for the heart.


	12. Cleaning up the Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and Undyne come to your rescue!!! HOORAY!!!! 
> 
> Hopefully they don't t kill anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya all! So, some language use here, just heads up. I'm sure you can handle it, but for my peace of mind, I give warnings 'ight?
> 
> Hope you're all enjoying this so far, it's so fun and I'm happy to share this with all you cool people!

Ice Wolf's eyes widen, and he rapidly tries to back away, but Papyrus out-maneuvers him. He lifts his summoned weapon slightly, and instead of fatally wounding Wolf, he hits him dead on in the left shoulder, the tip of the spear embedding itself deeply. Ice Wolf howls in agony as blood starts to seep from the wound. Papyrus’s eyelights go out as he looks directly into Ice Wolf’s eyes. 

 

A blood chilling grin crosses Papyrus’s face. 

 

“WELL, WHAT DO YOU KNOW? I  _ MISSED.” _

 

Everyone in the bar knows, Papyrus never misses an intended target.

 

Ice Wolf  _ finally _ realizes this and gets the idea. He scrambles for the door, tail between his legs and bone spear still in his shoulder. You hear scraping and quick shuffling from all around you, and soon see all of Wolf’s cronies following close behind their leader. 

 

Before all of them make it out the door though, the Gyftrot comes up from behind Papyrus, his antlers colliding into Papyrus’s left leg. There’s a sharp  _ crack,  _ and Papyrus snarls in outrage and pain. Before he can react any further though, the Gyftrot is already galloping out the door; one of his antlers now broken off. 

 

One moment later, there’s a squealing noise, and through the broken doorway comes none other by Sans, dragging behind him the Gyftrot gripped by its broken stump of an antler. 

 

“alright, what the hell is….”

 

Sans pauses, looking at the aftermath of the fight. His eyelights fall on his brother, who is now kneeling to keep from falling over, and Sans shoves the Gyftrot over to Undyne as he makes his way to Papyrus’s side. 

 

“boss, you alright?”

 

Papyrus shifts and winces. 

 

“ IT SEEMS MY TIBIA IS FRACTURED, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, I WILL LIVE, SANS. ”

 

Sans doesn’t seem pleased by the answer, letting his gaze fall on the Gyftrot, but lets it drop for the time being.  “wha’ happened here?”

 

“THAT IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW.” 

 

Papyrus pushes himself up, and with Sans trailing behind him to make sure he doesn’t fall, they make their way over to the Gyftrot now in Undyne’s grasp. Undyne roughly twists the Gyftrot’s broken antler, causing the monster to let out a short shriek.       

 

“Alright, listen up, punk. You’re gonna answer us, alright? No bullshit, or you’re not going to like what happens.”

 

“ I don’t know nothin’s, you stoopid fish bitch, I’z just done what boss told me ta do! He says attack da human, so I’z attack da human, k? Now lemme go, before boss gets back and kicks your ass so hard you won’t get up fer a month!” 

 

Undyne twists the Gyftrot’s antler even harder, forcing his head to the ground and grinning maniacally at him, her pointed teeth glistening in a crazed smile. She starts to grind the broken antler stump into the floorboards, causing the Gyftrot to writhe and twist to try and escape Undyne’s unyielding grip. 

 

“Ight, ight! Ow! Leggo! Fuck, I dunno, I dunno! I swears it! All boss says is ta attack dat der stars damned hooman, so I doz as boss sayz! He don’t like hoomans nones, so he sayz he’s gonna clean up der streets so da monsta’s can have der ol’ territory back. E’ promised we’d get our share of da land, so we a course goes along, tinkin’ whats da woist dat can happen? Der, all dat I know! Now get offa me, you fuckin’ faggot fish bitch!”

 

Undyne lifts the Gyftrot up by the horns to meet her eye level, unbridled fury pouring out in her intent. A cyan spear appears in her hand, and she lets the tip rest just beneath the Gyftrot’s chin, almost poking through the skin.

 

“I’m sorry, I think my ears aren’t working at the present moment.  _ What  _ did you just say to me, you pathetic excuse for a monster?” 

 

The Gyftrot is trembling, but manages to hold a smug face. 

 

“ Dat’s right, ‘Cap’. Youz heards me.”

 

"Why you little... YOU'RE SO DEAD!"

 

Papyrus moves forwards and pulls the Gyftrot out of Undyne’s grasp before she can do anything too brash. Papyrus doesn’t even spare the offending monster a glance, just shoves him over to Dogamy, who uses the butt of his axe to knock the smaller monster out cold. Undyne snarls at Papyrus.

 

“What’d you do that for!? I had it under control, Papyrus!”

 

Papyrus looks at her levely, arms crossed, challenging her statement. 

 

“YOU CAN HONESTLY TELL ME YOU SPARED NO THOUGHT IN POTENTIALLY HARMING THAT MONSTER? YOUR INTENT WAS PALPABLE, UNDYNE. YOU WOULD HAVE DUSTED HIM IN THE NEXT FEW SECONDS HAD I NOT INTERVENED. DO NOT PIN YOUR ANGER ON ME. YOU KNOW THE LAW AS WELL AS I, AND I WILL DO ALL IN MY POWER TO MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT BREAK IT DUE TO A SUDDEN UNCHECKED FLARE OF TEMPER. YOU ARE BETTER THAN THAT.”

 

Undyne frustratedly mumbles something under her breath, but then inhales deeply and seems to regain her calmer composure. She gets up off the floor and smirks ruefully, wrapping an  arm around Papyrus’s shoulder. 

 

“Thanks, Paps. I owe ya one.”

 

Papyrus sends her a sidelong smirk.  “AS YOU HAVE SAID BEFORE, UNDYNE. DO NOT BE SURPRISED WHEN I START CALLING IN FAVORS FROM YOU.”

 

Undyne scoffs and shoves Papyrus away in a playful manner. 

 

“ FUHUHUHUHU! __ What in Asgore’s name would you need favors from me for?”

 

Papyrus’s face takes on a more serious look.  “TO HELP ME IN SITUATIONS LIKE, THESE, FOR ONE. NOW THEN, TO PRESSING MATTERS.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter might take a bit, I'm trying to get my thoughts straight for it to work, and it's taking a bit to get it in order and make it sound right. 
> 
> Thanks in advance for your patience. :D


	13. A Lull in the Commotion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go back to the house, learn a bit about the overall evening, and now you're gonna take a nap. Just need to quickly text a couple people before you drop off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a filler chapter, but it helps move the story along, so bear with me. 
> 
> And in case it's hard to tell, CS95 is Papyrus. Hope that works ok.

Papyrus turns to look over at where you are being helped by Dogaressa. She managed to use some slight healing magic on you, so the worst of your wounds have sealed and stopped bleeding for the most part. 

 

Papyrus makes his way over to you, slightly favoring his broken leg, but not quite limping. You look past him to glance at Undyne nervously. She looks slightly anxious as well, and the glance she gives you in return tells you she knows nothing about what Papyrus may be planning to say to you. Sans just gives you a knowing look before going over to speak with Grillby.

 

Papyrus gingerly kneels in front of you and takes in your appearance, while Dogaressa backs away from the two of you to go help Dogamy. Rus’s eyelights are overbright in anger and concern, but his voice is level and controlled. 

 

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT, HUMAN?”

 

You nod back, not really knowing what to say. Numerous questions run through your head at a rapid pace, but you don’t know what to ask. 

 

 _How did they know you’d be here? How did they know about the attack, or was it by chance they happened upon it? Did Sans follow you?_ There were dozens more, but the biggest question pushing back all the others though was, **_What did the brothers think of you now?_**

 

Before you can continue on the downward spiral that is your thoughts, Papyrus surprises you out of them by carefully pulling you up into his arms and holding you bridal style. You do _not_ squeak as he does so. 

 

“WE ARE GOING HOME, HUMAN. WE CAN DISCUSS THIS MATTER LATER, ONCE IN A SAFER LOCATION.” You nod again, seeing as there’s no point in saying anything.

 

You grip Papyrus’s shirt so as not to slip from his hold, and he makes a move for the front door. When he moves forward on his fractured leg, he stumbles slightly. Undyne notices and cooly steps in front of him, blocking his path. She has her arms crossed in front of her in a no-nonsense sort of way.

 

“Paps, you can’t carry them all the way home with a broken leg.”

 

Papyrus sneers at her, clearly fed up with everything that’s transpired. “WATCH ME. NOW STEP ASIDE, UNDYNE. I HAVE PLACES TO BE.”

 

Undyne shakes her head. 

 

“Look, I know you’re in you’re still in attack and defend mode right now, and I totally get it. But if you think you’re going to walk anywhere injured and with the human in tow, you’ve got another thing coming. And I’m not the only one who’d be on your ass about this." She gestures to Sans, who is watching from a short distance. “Your ‘place to be’ is here with Sans, and helping him clear this up. I’ll take the human back to the house. To paraphrase what you said to me earlier, “don’t do anything stupid,” right, Papyrus?”

 

Papyrus gazes levelly at Undyne, seemingly debating his own thoughts. After a moment he looks down at you, then sighs in acceptance of his own condition. He gently deposits you into Undyne’s arms, then glares at her, warning flashing in his eyes.

 

“DROP HER, AND IT’S YOUR HEAD, UNDYNE.” He glances to you and flashes you a small reassuring smirk. “SANS AND I WILL RETURN HOME SHORTLY.” The smirk falls into a flat line across Papyrus’s sharp jaws. “DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LEAVE THE HOUSE AGAIN WHILE WE ARE GONE.”

 

Again you nod, just wanting to get out of here. Papyrus gives you and Undyne a curt nod, then picks up your forgotten crutches. He tosses them to Undyne, who catches them deftly. She hefts you and the crutches, then heads for the busted doorway. Once you’re outside and away from all the former chaos, you sigh and sort of flop in Undyne’s hold. 

 

“Well. That was probably the worst decision I have _ever_ made in my entire life.”

 

Undyne just chuckles. “Nah, wasn’t your fault. Don’t worry about it too much, punk, or you’ll end up letting those thoughts mess with your head.”

 

You tilt your head to look up at her. 

 

“They probably think I hate them now, trying to leave when all they’ve been doing is trying to help. Geez, I’m such an idiot.”

 

Undyne gives you a look. “You didn’t think that Papyrus actually didn’t know what you were up to, did you?”

 

You’re surprised look causes Undyne to laugh. “Welp, guess that answers that. Paps knew you wanted out of the house, but as you well know, he wasn’t about to let you loose just yet. So when I showed up, he figured it was just as good a time as any to let you have a break. He’s not stupid you know. Knew where you were going and who you’d be with as soon as you left the house.”

 

Your mind takes a moment to process the information. “So, wait, he knew the whole time?”

 

“Yep! So did Sans, though he was less happy with the idea. Papyrus had to tell him to lay off a few times before Sans agreed to let you have your fun for awhile.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me this?”

 

Undyne smirks. “I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”

 

You facepalm in annoyance. “You know what I mean, Undyne.”

 

Undyne shrugs with you in her arms, causing you to shift. “I didn’t see a point to. You’d have your night out and get to think you were sneaky, I’d get to hang with Paps like old times, and the brothers knew what you were up to and felt you’d be relatively safe. Thought it was a win situation all around.”

 

You feel inclined to agree. “I guess so. Is that why you two showed up pretty soon after the fight started?”

 

“Paps asked Grillby to keep an eye on you. So at some point during the fight, he alerted Papyrus to the situation, and he told me. You know what happened from there.”

 

You nod. So, you’d been found out from the beginning. And yet, the brothers trusted you to be out on your own? You wish you’d have told them yourself, feeling awful for trying to sneak out when they had done nothing but help. Ugh. You needed to think this through, but maybe not right now at this moment. Nap first, think later.

 

Undyne takes you back to the skeleton brothers’ house, and you head into the spare bedroom telling Undyne you just need to sleep and process some stuff. She smiles, leans your crutches up against the side of the wall, and tells you she’ll be outside in the living room until the guys come back. You close the door behind her, promptly flop on the bed, and quickly text a few people.

 

First is Frisk, updating them on the situation and telling them you’re alright. No response. Figures, it's late at night and they’re probably sleeping like a normal person would at this hour.

 

Next is Sans, who tell you got home alright. He just sends a quick thumbs up and then goes silent. Alright then, hopefully that's a good sign.

 

Last is Papyrus.

 

You: Hey, Rus.    

 

He’s quick to respond, Sans most likely would let him know it’s probably you texting.

 

CS95: HUMAN. I ASSUME YOU ARRIVED AT OUR HOME SAFELY ?

 

You: Yeah, Undyne is in the living room and I’m in the spare.

 

CS95: GOOD. SANS AND I ARE ‘TIDYING UP’ AND WILL RETURN SOON ENOUGH.

 

You: Papyrus, Undyne told me you and Sans both knew I was going out tonight. Thank you for letting me go anyways.

 

CS95: YOU ARE MOST WELCOME, HUMAN. BUT WE CAN DISCUSS THIS IN ITS ENTIRETY ONCE SANS AND I ARE DONE HERE. IN THE MEANTIME, I WOULD CHANCE A GUESS THAT YOU ARE WORN OUT FROM THIS WHOLE ORDEAL. REST, AND WE CAN SPEAK ON THIS ONCE YOU ARE READY TO.

 

You: Thanks again, Rus. See you soon.

 

CS95: UNTIL THEN.

 

You close your phone, glad to know that at least for now, neither of the brothers seem upset with you. Satisfied with that knowledge, you take a short nap, readying yourself for the conversation you hope only goes well later tomorrow.


	14. Update!!! (And a new story idea!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not an actual chapter, will be deleted after the next chapter is posted.
> 
> Also I have the first rough draft of a Mafiatale fic I started. If you guys like it, I may continue writing it.

* * *

Hey all!

So, I'm still busy writing away for After Underfell, but I decided to make the next chapter from UF Pap's POV.

I know how to, but it's taking me a bit to get in the right headspace and write out his part accordingly.

I'm maybe about halfway through the actual next chapter itself, but due to me being a slight perfectionist when it comes to characters and their personalities, thoughts, and action, it takes me a bit to get it right and to the point where I'm ok sending it out to all you people to read.

I want you guy to like this, so sorry if I get delayed here and there trying to do justice to myself and you. 

* * *

 

BUT! In the meantime, I have a rough first chapter of a Mafia/Mobtale I thought you might like. If you do, comment and let me know so I can continue it and make it it's own story! Hope you enj... oh jeez.

 

"HUMAN! GET BACK TO WRITING YOUR ORIGINAL WORK! THE PEOPLE ARE WAITING!"  


'scue me one sec, all.

 

'SHUT UP, PAPYRUS, I'M GOING TO! SANS, GET YOUR BROTHER!'

 

"ight, hold yer horses, doll. boss, get outta the way, they're busy"

 

"I WILL NOT LEAVE UNTL... MHMPH!!!"

 

'Thank you, Sans."

 

'no prob, sweetheart"

 

AnYwAyS.... ENJOY!

 

* * *

 

(No Working Title Yet)   

(Open to suggestions!)

You’re done. This is it. You’ve finally snapped.

 

Before the torrent of anger and fury comes to fruition, you take a long moment to go over the past few years of this absolute bs in your mind.

 

At the current moment, you work a dead-end job in an absolutely abhorrent part of town, earning _less_ than minimum wage and no overtime pay because your boss is a cheap, arrogant prick. He makes you come in long before the crack of dawn, and long after the sun went down. Your hours are supposed to be from nine to five. What a way to make a living. (You allow yourself a humorless smirk at the thought). He always, _always_ , denies your requests for slightly better hours or a barely noticeable increase in pay, no exceptions. His reason being, “ _Well, we don’t have the_ **_funding_ ** _to pay you for overtime. We need you to keep working for us though, because you have nowhere else to go, and blah blah blah, we’re complete buffoons when it comes to budgeting, and we have_ **_no_ ** _clue what we’re doing, so, hmmmm, we’ll let you suffer for it by being the only thing that comes between our business failing. Oh, and if you don’t do_ **_exactly_ ** _what we tell you to do perfectly, you’re either going to get more work with barely enough pay to live on, or be fired and have nothing to live on. Your choice!”_

 

You sigh. And if that wasn’t bad enough. But as if to add insult to injury, you are also constantly harassed by pretty much _all_ your male coworkers. And of course with your type of luck, ninety percent of your fellow workers are men. And the few women who do work there are so cowed by the men, they don’t do anything to help or speak up. Fantastic, right?

 

At first, the men had stuck to cat-calling and pettily bothering you to no end, but you could live with that. No big deal, you’d had worse. Bring it on, boys. But over the course of a couple months after you started working at the company, the guys started amping up their attacks on you. Once they realized you weren’t snapping back at them or making any kind of fuss, they decided it would be a good idea to start _almost_ threatening you with the offhand remark, gesture, or signal that clearly told you if they had their way, you wouldn’t be so lucky in avoiding their advances. 

 

Again, you ignore them to your best ability, though you did file a complaint to the Human Resources department. Nothing came of it. Big shocker there. Thank you _so_ much for doing literally your one and only flipping jobs a-holes. 

 

And so the harassment continues. At the present time, it has gotten to the point where you’ve noticed some of the guys quickly touching you inappropriately pretty much whenever they wanted, no one was going to do anything to stop them. One even when so far as to follow you into the women’s bathroom and forcefully push himself onto you. To your ‘luck’, though, the man only kissed you. Without your consent, of course, but it could have been so much worse. Maybe he thought going farther would actually get him in trouble, who knows. All you know is you came out with a few bruises, tousled hair, and just as _few_ mental scars, but nothing else otherwise. You suppose you’re grateful for that. 

 

Just the other day, you noticed the same male coworker’s car following you home. You managed to lose him in your car, thank the stars, but you’re not sure you can do this everyday. Your feelings of insecurity and unsafety are wearing you down incessantly. Of course you want a new job, but with the job market being the way it is, finding a new job that pays even slightly better than what you have now is almost impossible. So you’re stuck. 

 

But the event that had just taken place changed _that_ mindset in the span of, oh, a few seconds. 

 

You had a report due today. Your boss had clearly told you about three days ago that if it wasn’t completely done, and done right, and on their desk today, you’d be fired, with no severance pay, or nothing. Zip, nada, zilch. 

 

So, naturally, you got the report done. A thirty-seven page essay detailing the inner workings of the company and all it’s goings on. Thing is, you had to follow their guidelines in writing this. So it’s basically seventy percent lies, and the other thirty percent is only partial lies. Whatever. You need this job, you’ll do what you have to. Besides, once you turn this in, you can go home to your crappy apartment and watch youtube on your phone, since you can’t afford a TV, and you have no friends to watch TV with. 

 

Yeah, your life sucks, but no one promised it’d be fair. And after the sudden deaths of your parents in a car accident just a couple years ago, you’ve convinced yourself to believe you have it pretty good. At least you still have your younger brother. He’s in the military, off fighting some war you try to keep up with for his sake. He’ll be home soon, so at least that’s something to look forward to. He’s also a little better off than you, but despite his offers to help you out, you don’t want to be a burden to the only family you have. Your brother deserved loads better than you. 

 

You shake your head, clearing out your roaming thoughts. Geez, that went on some hell of a tangent. You straighten up, take a deep breath, and knock on the door of your boss’s private room. 

 

A gruff voice comes from behind the door, the tone telling you your boss is not in a good mood today. Not that he usually is, but you no’s stopping you from hoping right? 

 

“Who iz it? I’m busy.”

 

You steel yourself. “It’s, uh, me, sir, I have the, um, report you had asked for.”

 

He still doesn’t let you in, and just sounds even more annoyed at this point. “Wha’ report? I don’t remember no report.”

 

“The, uh, one you asked for… about three days ago, sir. The one that details the purpose and workings of our company, sir.”

 

“I didn’ ask fer no report. Now git back ta work before I fire yer sorry ass, lady.”

 

Oh boy. What a day this was shaping up to be.

 

* * *

 

Hope you liked it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On the other hand, maybe I won't delete this ;D


	15. Meeting at the Rendezvous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Papyrus come back to the house from cleaning up the chaos at Grillby's. You and Undyne are fine, and so it goes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT"S FINISHED!!!!
> 
> I'm sorry it's taken so long, but I've had so much going on, and I won't burden you guys with my issues and stuff. Just... ya'know, enjoy!

* * *

 

Papyrus slowly rubs his non-existent temple, trying to calm himself down. Stars damn it all, why was this sort of thing still happening? It’s been three whole years since they’d surfaced and dissent and rebellion was still prevalent. It was to be expected to some extent, of course, but still, none of it was really _necessary._

 

So far most humans had accepted the presence of monsters, though not all of them were thrilled with the prospect of having the stuff of nightmares crawl out beneath a long forgotten mountain. And now some of the monsters who were _supposed_ to show the humans they really meant no harm go off and initiate an attack on an unprotected human woman. 

 

Well, not entirely unprotected, as Papyrus thinks back to Dogeressa’s recounting of you bashing Aaron’s head with only a crutch. He smirked a little at that fact, pleased you had put up an ample fight. You weren’t defenseless, he knew, but he still felt like he had failed you. 

 

Papyrus sighs. For all his careful planning and execution of said planning, it had all fallen apart relatively easily. The attack on you wasn’t expected, and Papyrus acknowledged that. Thing was, he thought he’d planned well enough that if by the off chance something like this did end up happening, it would have worked better. Ugh. 

 

Papyrus shook his skull, trying to clear out his thoughts. He really didn’t need to be thinking about this right now. He had a job to do, and heaven help anyone who got in his way. Unless you were Sans, or someone with important news or business with him, Papyrus had zero tolerance for anything other than the task at hand right now.

 

Sans sidled up to him, looking up at his younger brother in well masked concern. To anyone else, it looked like Sans was just looking to Papyrus for instruction, but Papyrus had learned to read his brother better than anyone else. Sans was making sure his sibling could handle all of this right now. Well, Papyrus hadn’t become captain of the royal guard by backing out of things he’d rather not deal with. He used quick and subtle hand signals to sign to Sans, not really trusting himself to speak just yet with his LV aggravated the way it was. He hadn’t killed anyone, hadn’t had to ever since they had surfaced, but he had come _very_ close today. He had managed to control himself enough to not kill Ice Wolf, thanks Asgore, that would’ve been a lot of unnecessary and time consuming paperwork. It would have been completely justified, mind, but why kill when a different kind of example could be made? 

 

But despite not killing, the feeling that he _could_ have, and so easily had flipped a switch inside him that reminded him of how simple it was to end another’s life. It had been an unwanted need in the Underground; kill or be killed. And though he knew full well that they weren’t in the Underground anymore, some old habits die hard. Papyrus was still on high alert, and definitely still feeling the after effects of some sort of magic adrenaline high. He had a nonchalant exterior while fighting Wolf, but inwardly, he had relished the fight. Though fighting without purpose or reason was banned by the king and queen’s law, Papyrus still secretly missed the thrill and risk of a fight.

 

Again, Papyrus had to forcefully pull himself out of his spiraling thoughts. There was work to be done. 

 

Once he and Sans had cleaned up the bar, taken statements from the patrons, and helped the canine unit, they started making their way back to their home. Papyrus heard his brother’s phone go off, but ignored it, walking steadily back to the house. His leg still hurt slightly, but he had managed a makeshift bandage, and he was directing some of his magic into healing it and keeping the pain dulled. It was honestly a waste of magic, since it would heal naturally on its own and the pain wasn’t too bad, he thought. But fuck it, he had plenty of magic in reserve, and if he wanted to numb the pain a bit, he was going to, to hell with the magic repercussions later. 

 

Sans kept shooting glances over at his brother, not caring if Papyrus saw. He sighed.

 

“IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WISH TO SAY TO ME, SANS?”

 

Sans looked directly into his eyelights, then looks away. 

 

“nah, boss. just thought you might wanna talk about wha’ just happened”

 

Papyrus quirks a browbone at Sans. “YOU ABOVE ALL PEOPLE KNOW SANS, I AM NOT ONE TO ‘TALK’ ABOUT THESE SORT OF THINGS. BEING ON THE SURFACE DOES NOT CHANGE THAT.”

 

Sans just shrugs. “‘s what i’d figured you’d say. but thought i’d throw it out there just in case”

 

Papyrus sighs. “PERHAPS ANOTHER TIME, BROTHER. FOR NOW, LET US JUST RETURN HOME, HOPEFULLY WITHOUT INTERRUPTION THIS TIME.”

 

The brothers walk back in a more or less comfortable silence. No one offers to talk, so nothing is said.

 

Once they return home, Papyrus unlocks the front door and enters, seeing Undyne fast alseep, sprawled out on the couch. He crosses his arms and huffs in annoyance.

 

“UNDYNE! STATUS UPDATE!”

 

Undyne jolts awake on the couch, causing her to comically fall off and land with a *thud* on the ground. She gets up off the ground, whips around, and glares up at Papyrus. She roughly punches his shoulder.

 

“Stars, Paps, you don’t gotta shout at everything! Everything’s under control, you gigantic lunkhead.”

 

“THEN WHERE IS OUR HUMAN?”

 

“I’m over here, Papyrus.”

 

Papyrus and Sans look across the room to see you poking your head out of the kitchen. You wave and give them both a small smile.

 

Papyrus’s expression softens a little. “ARE YOU FARING WELL HUMAN? ARE YOU IN NEED OF ANY ASSISTANCE?”

 

You come out of the kitchen on your crutches. “I’m fine. I took a nap when I got back, and Undyne has been here, “keeping watch” while I worked around a bit in the kitchen.”

 

As you cross the room, something snags your crutch and you almost fall over. But before you can hit the ground, Sans is suddenly right in front of you, catching you before you can trip up. 

 

“ey, sweetheart, i know yer glad ta see us back safe n' sound, but tha’s no reason ta fall all over me”

 

As you laugh at his pun, Sans picks you up and carries you to the couch, depositing you on it. “Thanks, Sans, I’m fine.”

 

Papyrus’s head whips to look over over to Undyne, anger beginning to show through his facade of holding it together. “BY THE STARS, UNDYNE! I KNOW MY BROTHER CAN BE LAZY, BUT COMING FROM YOU? WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WE HAD NOT BEEN HERE AND THE HUMAN HAD FALLEN AND COULDN’T GET UP WHILE YOU WERE ASLEEP!”

 

Undyne lifts her hands to try and placate the angry skeleton. 

 

“Look, Pap, I’m sorry, that was my bad, and I get it. But look, she’s fine, and you know as well as anyone she can take care of herself.”

 

Papyrus takes menacing steps towards her, fists clenched in something akin to rage. Magic sparks across his hands, and crimson smoke slowly drifts out of his sockets. He honestly looks like he wants to murder someone, his eyelights unexpectedly growing a brighter crimsion in his anger. He suddenly halts in his stalking towards Undyne, shakes his skull and shuts his sockets tightly and takes a deep breath, wrestling with himself and trying to regain control over his growing frenzied emotions. His sockets suddenly snap open and focus on you. He inhales again, which you know is just a coping mechanism, since neither he nor Sans really have to breathe. Papyrus runs a hand down his skull, his claws stopping to pick at the scar trailing down his right eyesocket. Another tell that Papyrus is… not ok. He looks exhausted all of a sudden. 

 

“I NEED TO… NEED TO… UGH, I… REALLY DON’T KNOW RIGHT NOW.” He swiftly makes for the stairs leading to his room.  “I WILL BE BACK DOWN IN A WHILE, ONCE I CAN GET MY LV SAFELY UNDER CONTROL. UNDYNE, YOU MAY LEAVE AT YOUR CONVENIENCE.” 

 

Undyne makes a move towards Papyrus. “Pap, you sure you’re…”

 

Papyrus doesn’t stop to look at Undyne as he curtly cuts her off. “I’VE HANDLED LV SPIKES MUCH WORSE THAN THIS BEFORE, UNDYNE, AS YOU WELL KNOW. IF IT SO PLEASES YOU, I’D LIKE SOME TIME ALONE. I AM IMMENSELY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR HELP EARLIER, AND IT WILL BE DISCUSSED UPON A LATER TIME. FOR NOW, GO SEE ALPHYS. I’M SURE SHE’S WORRIED ABOUT YOU.”

 

Undyne looks conflicted, and you know she’s torn between helping her friend or going home to Alphys. She looks to Sans, who gives a curt nod to her. She again looks up the stairs to where Papyrus has now disappeared into his room, then sighs and looks to Sans. 

 

“Keep an eye on him, alright? He’s just as good at hiding stuff as you are, so… don’t let him do anything stupid while I’m gone, ok?”

 

“‘ve handled him before, ‘dyne, even before you were in th’ picture. i’ll call ya later ta update you, if ya like”

 

Undyne places a hand on Sans’ shoulder and gives him a smile. “I’d like that. Thanks, Sans.” She throws you a smirk. “See ya round, kid. Don’t get into anymore trouble, ya hear?”

 

You smile back at her and nod. “Sure, Undyne. At least not unless you’re around to help get me into it or out of it.”

 

“FHU HUH HUH! Damn right, squirt! Catch you guys later!”

 

The door slams hard after Undyne as she leaves. 

 

Guess it’s time to start damage control now.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love these guys just...... so much.


	16. An Exchange of Viewpoints (I'm Right, You're Wrong, Shut Up)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're concerned about Papyrus's outburst. You're also concerned about Sans' apparent lack of concern. You think you're rightly concerned about both things, and you're going to sort this out one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I'M BACK! 
> 
> I'm sorry I've been gone so long, school's started, and I've had MASSIVE writer's block for this story. 
> 
> I also had a new idea for a completely different fandom, so of course I had to get that one onto paper before I forgot it.... 
> 
> It's been hard to write much at all, honestly. But here we go, another chapter! (I edited and updated the last one too, so ya'know, check it out before reading this new one!)
> 
> Might edit this one a bit later too, not sure if I'm totally happy with it.

* * *

You turn to Sans once Undyne leaves.

 

“So… Is Papyrus, you know… going to be ok?

 

Sans rubs a hand down his neck and casts an uneasy glance to his brother’s room upstairs. 

 

“probably? ‘e’s had flare ups worse than this one back in underfell, and ‘e always managed ta come outta ‘em alright”

 

You raise an eyebrow skeptically. “Define ‘alright’, Sans. Your definition and mine may differ slightly.”

 

Sans huffs an awkward laugh. “guess yer right there, sweetheart. back in ‘fell, he’d calm down by attackin’ anythin’ that didn’t have a soul attatched to ‘em. 's why 'e 'trained' so much on his own and with undyne. took the risin’ LV aggression out on people who could handle 'im or on things ‘e knew wouldn’t harm anyone if he mauled th' shit outta 'em”

 

Your arms cross and you unconsciously roll your eyes. “And you thought that was a healthy coping mechanism, Sans?”

 

Sans gives you a hard glare. “there weren’t exactly ways ta ‘cope’ with LV, sweetheart, other than ta dust more monsters ta temporarily satisfy the growin’ lust and manic cravin’ for more dust on yer hands an' more LV in yer soul. you ain’t a monster, and none a us have exactly sat ya down to explain LV before, so I don’t expect ya ta completely understand. paps there’s got a LV a thirteen. there’s only two otha’ monsters who got a LV higher than that, and one a them’s ol’ king asgore with a LV a nineteen. now him bein’ a boss monster helps him deal with the LV ta a certain extent, but boss ain’t a boss monster like his majesty. an’ most normal monsters don’t get past a LV a ten without goin’ dust crazed. so what i’m gettin’ at here, doll, is that fer a ‘normal’ monster, boss is handling this pretty well. an he’ll get over it, like e’ always has before”

 

“Sans, for the love of… he looked like he was going to toss Undyne out a window! She’s his closest friend, and he’s never acted like that in the three years I’ve known you guys! Sure they fight like cats and dogs, but he looked ready to murder her, and for what? Me tripping up and her sleeping? You fall asleep like all the time, Sans, and he’s never done anything drastic before!”

 

Sans sneers a little, then catches himself. “s’not the same thing, fer a couple reasons. ‘is LV usually ain’t acting up when ‘e catches me snoozin’, and our ‘relationship’ is entirely different than ‘is and undyne’s. 'e wouldn't hurt me if he was at an LV a twenty an his life depended on it. i know my lil' brother, aright? he's gonna push through an' be just fine."

Your facial expression apparently tells Sans that his answer wasn't particularly what you were looking for. He sighs and shoots you a quick smirk. 

 

"tell ya what, doll. if pap’s ain’t back down here in an hour, which is pretty unlikely, then i’ll go up there an' make sure e’s doin’ alright, k, sweetheart? righ’ now, an’ trust me on this, it’s probably better ta leave ‘im ta his own devices”

 

You look back up the stairs to Papyrus’s room and sigh heavily, conceeding to Sans. He has been around Papyrus much longer than you, what with them literally being brothers and growing up together and all. Heck, Papyrus had even told you once that Sans practically raised him. So, to your dismay, you realize that if anyone could tell what was going on with Papyrus and how to deal with it, it’d be his own brother. 

 

“Fine. But no more than an hour, ok?"  Your voice goes just a mite softer. "I just want him to be alright.”

 

Sans' smile is softer than the shark toothed grin you’ve come to be quite familiar with. This one gives you some reassurance.  “an’ that’s much appreciated sweetheart. he’ll be fine, ‘ight? he's the toughest an' coolest skeleton out there, though there's not much competition." He winks at you rougishly, and you can't help but give a soft chuckle. "trust me on this, sweetheart”

 

You  _ really  _ feel like arguing your point more, wanting to make _sure_ Papyrus is going to be alright, but… you decide Sans is right. Perhaps if you give Papyrus some time he’ll overcome whatever this LV thing is. Sans said he's dealt with it before, so it can't be  _that_ bad, you reason.

 

And Papyrus did want some privacy after all. It’d be really violating his wishes if you just let your emotions take over and barged headfirst into his room without his explicit permission.

 

Sure, they trusted you to a truly staggering level, basically allowing into the privacy of their home pretty much whenever you feel like it, (albeit you had to send a heads up to them through a text or a phone call, but that wasn't a big deal, seeing as not alerting them to your arrival could lead to a bone construct through your skull) but the brother's rooms were their sanctums, and they hardly even letting their sibling into their personal space, though there were exceptions. You were not going to be the person who took the freedom of chosen isolation or the right of a safe place away from them, especially since privacy and security were things the brothers prized above most others.

 

You could wait for Papyrus to come out in his own time, when he felt like it, and without you disturbing him. He's going to be fine.

 

And you’re patient. You will wait. You're strong enough to wait. Right? Right. Just keep telling yourself that, and everything will turn out to be… just... _ fine _ .

 

............

 

This is going to be the longest hour of your life. 

 

Stars damn you and your persuasion skills, Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I mentioned, I started writing another idea for a different fandom (not UT related at all). If there's any interest out there for Phantom of the Opera, let me know, and perhaps I'll post my first chapter. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for waiting, and I'll try to have another chapter out as soon as I can. 
> 
> ☹⚐✞☜ ✡✌ ✌☹☹ 📪
> 
> ☝


	17. Another Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all. Just a update, nothing too substancial. Feel free to ignore.

Well, just a quick thing first. 

Happy 4th Anniversary to Undertale! 

The other thing is I'm having more or less of a massive writer's block, and writing isn't coming as easy for me at the moment. There still will be chapters, just coming at a slower pace. Sorry if that's upsetting to anyone, but what happens happens. 

Thanks all. :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "hey, uh, sweetheart, doncha think yer time would be better spent, ya'know, actually writin' chapters and not excuses?"
> 
> "Dammit, Sans, I'm trying to explain.... you know what? What exactly do you THINK I'm doing?"
> 
> "stallin' fer time, at least tha's what it looks like ta me"
> 
> *deep breaths* "Sans... shut up."
> 
> "heh. make me, dollface"
> 
> "You really want me to? Cause I will, boneboy."
> 
> "you and what army?"
> 
> "PAPYRUS!"
> 
> "You don't need to yell, I'm here. What is it, human?"
> 
> "Rus, kindly get your brother to shut his face hole."
> 
> "Sans... What have you been doing to upset the human?"
> 
> "uh.. nothin' boss. everythin's fine here"
> 
> "..... Get out, Sans."
> 
> "ya got it boss!"
> 
> "Thank you, Rus."
> 
> "Of course, human. Anytime."
> 
>  
> 
> (This was stupid, but IDC)


	18. Where Did It All Go Wrong?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've waited the hour, per Sans' request. 
> 
> Now.
> 
> It's time to figure out what's going on here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUUUYYYSSS!!!!
> 
> I finally put out a new chapter!!!!!
> 
> I'm sorry it's taken so long, but I do have a reason. Excuse? I don't know. In any case, here's the new chapter!
> 
> (If you're interested in what I've been up to, check out the bottom notes) :D

* * *

 

You sigh and look up the staircase. There hasn’t been any sort of noise coming from Papyrus’ room, but really, you’re not sure if that’s a good sign or not. On the one hand, no noise means Papyrus could just be sleeping or… something. Yeah, like he’s known for actually being one to sleep when he believes there's work to be done. Which is pretty much always in Papyrus's book. 

 

You’re wishing you could hear just  _ something _ to let you know Papyrus isn’t in a bad way, or just a pile of dust on the floor, or …. ok, well, back up, that was not the train of thought you wanted to be on. Besides, Papyrus wouldn’t just up and dust; not without putting up some sort of hellish fight. He’d survived in a world where literally everyone wanted to kill him, excluding Sans, and maybe Undyne, though you don’t really know their past history so well. 

 

Ugh. You know what. You’d waited an hour like Sans suggested, and you were now officially _done_ waiting. You don’t care if you seem forward or pushy, you needed to know if your friend was alright. You scramble to get up off the couch, quickly grabbing your crutches, and hoisting yourself up onto them. You hobble over to the stairs, glaring at them as you know it’ll be something like a battle going up them. It’s for Pap though, so you'll give no quarter and never surrender!

 

Slowly, you make it to the top of the stairs, being as careful as you can to not fall on your face. That's not a thing you want to happen. At least, not again.

 

Once you reach the top, you're feeling pretty proud of yourself for only tripping that one time on that one stair that has been a nuisance for the past few weeks while you’ve been on crutches. It’s like that one stair in particular has some sort of beef with you and it’s sole purpose is to make you fall over. You had almost avoided it this time, but somehow your crutch hooked itself on the edge of the step. Well played stair, well played.

 

You make your way to Papyrus’ door, only to hesitate once you’re directly in front it. You pretty sure he knows someone’s outside; he has hearing that could rival a bat’s. How he manages that without ears, you have no idea, but Underfell sure had a way of morphing monsters into pure survival masters. 

 

Deciding to just go for it, you muster up your courage and knock a couple times on the door. No one answers. 

 

Well. That could be really bad. You knock again, though a tiny bit of panic seeps in, making the dull thunk of your knuckles on wood rap a little louder and faster than the previous time.

 

“LEAVE ME BE, SANS.”

 

The voice that comes through the door sounds just downright scary, almost like it's supposed to be a threat. You’re almost tempted to just do as he says and leave him alone, but you’re worried. Papyrus hasn’t ever told you to go away before unless it’s in jest or there’s something he believes you need to be protected from. There were those early days when you had just met him, and he told you he’d severely injure or kill you if you got too close, but it had been three years! This wasn’t like Papyrus. You need to now what’s going on.

 

“It’s… It’s me, Rus. Can… I come in?”

 

Silence again. You’re about to say something, when the door cracks itself open ever so slightly. You don’t know if it’s an invitation, but you decide you’ll take it as one.

 

You push the door open enough to enter, and you can immedietly feel the oppressive weight of aggrivated magic permeating the room. You can see the source of the dangerous aura standing just a few feet away from you. Papyrus is standing beside an absolutely wreaked punching bag, sand and bits of the bag itself strewn hapazardly all over the floor. The bit of the bag that’s still intact is just barely still attatched to the ceiling, hanging on by a metal chain that sways precariously. The bag is covered in jagged claw marks, each one leaking bits of sand onto the ground. 

 

You look from the ruins of the bag to Papyrus. His padded leather gloves, which he almost  _always_  wears to keep his claws hidden and safe, are cast aside on his bed. You gaze intently at him, but he won’t meet your eyes, his gaze locked firmly on the floor. He almost looks like he’s….glowing? There’s an aura of angry crimson magic radiating off of him. You decide it’s in your better interest not to approach him. 

 

When he finally looks up, you can see that his eyelights are painfully bright. You feel him projecting, waves of ANXIETY, ANGER, _f_ E _a_ R, and _p_ A _i_ N washing over you. You shudder, knowing now that for the past hour, he’s been trying to get his LV to settle by attacking whatever was closest at hand, and letting loose all the bottled up painful emotions he’s now letting loose on that poor punching bag.

 

“HUMAN. YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE.”

 

You…. don’t really know how to respond to that. You desperately try to think of something to say, but nothing comes to mind. It’s like a brick is tied to your tongue. 

 

Papyrus’ turns his gaze away from you. “GET. OUT. BEFORE I... END UP HURTING YOU.”

 

That… didn’t _sound_ like a threat. More like a... warning? You decide to press a bit.

 

“You wouldn’t hurt me, Papyrus. You know I trust you pretty much unconditionally, right?”

 

“.......THEN YOU HAVE MADE A POOR DECISION IN WHO YOU HAVE DECIDED TO TRUST.”

 

You feel a bit indignant at that statement. “And just what do you mean by that? Why would I have any reason not trust you? You’ve never hurt me, you’re all bark and no bite with me nowadays, Rus! I know you’ve done things in the past, but….”

 

Papyrus sharply interjects, his voice laced with venom. “YOU DON’T KNOW THE _HALF_ OF WHAT I DID IN THE PAST. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I REALLY AM.”

 

You sigh and give Papyrus a small smile, trying to comfort him. “I know that you’re my friend, Papyrus. Maybe even more than that. And I though I don’t pretend that I grasp everything you’ve been through, I know enough, and that right now, you’re suffering alone for it. Just… let me help. Please.” 

 

Papyrus looks unsure of himself, like he's having a raging war with his thoughts, but in the end, he gives you a curt nod. "FINE."

 

You really want to approach him, to reassure him, but you know that may push at his already strained limit. Instead you say, 

 

"What do you need me to do?”

 

Papyrus doesn't even hesitate. “GET SANS. I...NEED HIM TO BE HERE.”

 

You nod slowly, understanding what he wants, but... you really don’t want to leave Papyrus alone, even if it would be for just a second. You cast a doubtful look at him, but he shakes his head.

 

“IF YOU WANT TO HELP, GET MY BROTHER. I WILL BE FINE UNTIL YOU GET BACK.”

 

You manage to convince yourself that he really will be alright, then you slowly make your way out of the room. And once you've turned back to the stairs, you begin wondering how this all started in the first place anyways.

 

You hope to Asgore that Sans can help clear this all up. It seems like you've gotten yourself into some sort of mess, and you're not sure how to go about getting this to de-escalate.

 

And as you reach the first step on the staircase, you pray that you don't trip up on the way down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you've come for the explanation. 
> 
> Very well. I have three reasons.
> 
> 1\. I have been busy with classwork, seeing as it's the middle of the semester for me and the workload has increased dramatically.
> 
> 2\. I know where I want to take this fic, but am having trouble actually putting it in writing. Slowly but surely, new chapters will come, and I thank you for your patience with me.
> 
> 3\. I am working on a new fic as of now, so I'm splitting my time between this one and that one. It's in development, so you can't find it on AO3 right now. And for those of you who are interested, it's a Phantom of the Opera fic. Let me know if you'd like to see it on here in the future!
> 
> Thanks all, I appreciate you reading this. :D


	19. Big Ol' Bumps in the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus wanted you to go get Sans.
> 
> So, of course, you go get Sans.
> 
> What occurs once you do so really wasn't at all what you expected.
> 
> At all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, all. New chapter! Hope y'all like it, it's kinda a segwaying chapter. Things are going to (hopefully) get exciting soon. ;)

* * *

You carefully clunk your way down the stairs, casting wary glances over your shoulder at Papyrus’ door. The root of what's really going on here is something you’re still mostly in the dark about, apparently. 

 

You do know for a hard fact it's got to do with Papyrus’ LV, and presumably what happened at Grillby’s. It may even span back as far as the first attack on you, but why any of it triggered such a bad reaction from your usually very controlled and collected friend is something that’s still skirting at the edge of your mind, unable to be grasped. You know Papyrus has bad days, and though some of those days are honestly worse than those you've probably experienced, you know he hows how to keep a handle on himself. Today's most current events have you thrown for a loop though. All you can do is shake your head in frustrated confusion. 

 

Sans better be able to fix whatever’s going on, or you don’t know what will become of all this. 

 

You reach the bottom of the stairs and make your way over to the dozing skeleton. 

 

“Sans. Get up, I need your help here.”

 

Sans barely responds, only making a half asleep noise and mumbling back in a sleep ridden tone, “mmm, go ‘way, kid, can’t ya see ‘m doin’ very important shit right now?”

 

You sigh in light exasperation. “Sans, you’re literally just lying there doing nothing. Not that that surprises me, but this involves your brother, and I think…”

 

Sans eyesockets crack open and his blood red eyelights quickly form. They peer at you with intense scrutiny as he cuts abruptly you off. 

 

“what  **_about_ ** my brother?” His voice has hardened, and doesn’t carry even a hint of sleep in it anymore.

 

His gaze causes a shiver to creep along your spine, but you pointedly ignore it and press on. “Look, Sans, I went to check in on Papyrus, but he’s just standing in the middle of his room over an obliterated punching bag. He looks awful, Sans, and as soon as I saw him, I had the feeling that if I didn’t get the hell out of there, he’d murder me. He asked for you, but stars, he sounded...broken. That’s not like him, I'm not even sure it _was_ him. Sans, I need to know what’s going on here.”

 

Sans gives a rueful chuckle and sits up, rubbing a hand down his face. “ geez, ‘e hasn’t had it this bad since we first came up ‘ere” 

 

He shoots you a concerned glance. “look, doll, this ain’t sumthin ya wanna get caught up in, yer lucky ‘e _didn’t_ murder ya. lucky he even recognized ya at all. maybe ‘e’s not too far inta his attack, or it ain't one of th' worst ones, but i’d suggest ya didn’t go back up there with ‘im, ight? i’ll handle this”

 

Sans gets up, but before you can stop him to ask him any of your many questions, he’s teleported to presumably Papyrus’ room with a cracking ‘pop’. 

 

Dammit, Sans, you wanted to be kept in the loop about all of this too. As you sigh and turn to make your way to the stairs again, you hear a loud, angry slew of curse words come from Sans upstairs. In a matter of seconds, he’s back beside you, looking on the verge of panic. 

 

You give a massive start when he had literally ripped the fabric of time to come to a standstill beside you, but you startle out of it when you see his eyelights blazing with anxiety and fear. “Sans, what the hell? What’s going on?”

 

He looks at you, and you’re not sure how you could even begin to ease that wild look of deep rooted concern that covers his face. When he answers, you feel your blood go cold.  

 

“boss is gone”

 

“Gone? What do you mean, gone? Rus was just up there, how in the world can he just up and be gone!”

 

Sans shakes his skull quickly, confused and incredulous. “‘pparently, he went out th’ window? dunno if he jumped...'er...‘er flew 'er _what_ , but the window’s open, ‘n he’s gone”

 

You put your head in your hands and look at Sans. “So, what does that mean? What are we supposed to do?”

 

Sans takes a steadying breath and shoves his hands into his hoodie pockets, looking lost. “damn, ‘m no good at plannin’ shit, tha’s boss’s job. uhhhh, i don’t think ‘e’s so far inta the LV tha’d ‘e’d a lost control, but i’d venture a guess tha’ he’s pretty messed up in th' head right now, which ain’t great. dunno how ta find him…”

 

He trails off when you both hear the sound of a motorcycle revving outside. You both dash to the window that looks out at the brother's garage. What you end up seeing is Papyrus in his biker gear...which by the way, _**how**_ the _**hell**_ did he change into  _ **that**_ in like _**five**_ _ **seconds???**_... and he's placing a back helmet onto his skull. He either doesn't notice you both gawking at him, or he ignores you as he flicks the helmet's visor down, then peels off into the street. The deafening roar of the motor quickly fades away as Papyrus rides off.

 

“shit, he’s takin’ 'is bike!” Sans throws his hands up, lets out another very creative string of curses, then begins pacing around on the living room carpet. 

 

You decide against trying to placate the skeleton, but you do need something to do here; a plan at least. “Sans, please tell me you have some semblance of an idea of what to do.”

 

Sans glares at you, and you almost cower at the intensity of his gaze.

 

He answers in an overly honeyed voice that makes you internally cringe. “if i ‘ad any bright ideas, _sweetheart_ , ya think i’d still be ‘ere **_tryin’ ta think a one?!_** ” You don’t hear Sans yell very often, but the way he ends his sentence is beyond and away the angriest you’ve probably ever seen him.

 

You make the conscious choice to shut up and let Sans calm himself down, since you're pretty sure your efforts will at best be ignored, and at worst, blow back up in your face. 

 

Sans paces in tense silence for another few moments, then suddenly stops. He lets out a sigh, his posture sags, and it seems he may have calmed down a little. He turns his head to look at you, regret and remorse in his eyes.  “‘m sorry, sweetheart, didn’ mean ta shout at ya. ‘m just…'m worried 'bout 'im, 'm his older bro, supposed'a protect 'n look out fer 'im, 'n now i dunno where 'e is... if only i'd a...... wait…”

 

His demeanor has a complete 180 as he immediately perks up, and soon after a sharp grin graces his face. You can't decide wether you should be terrified or relieved by his change. Sans pulls out his phone and quickly checks something. 

 

Sans' smile increases tenfold as he finds whatever it is he was looking for on the screen. He throws you the cockiest smirk you have ever seen as he speaks. “dollface, please, tell me what an amazing genius i am”

 

You cross your arms the best you can and smirk, despite the situation. “Sans, first of all, we have more important matters to attend to than inflating your ego. Secondly, doing so would be me blatantly lying to your face, and Papyrus has taught me better than that.”

 

Sans sneers at you, but you know it's all in good fun once he beckons you to come look at his phone screen. You hobble over and peer over his shoulder to see a digital road map, and a little red dot quickly blipping along one of the roads.

 

You stare dumbly at it for a moment before its meaning pops into your head. “Oh my gosh Sans, you put a tracker on Papyrus?”

 

Sans grins. “nah, doll, ‘e’s too stubborn fer me ta do sumthin' like that, 'n too smart ta always know when i've tried. put one in th’ _bike,_ though”

 

You hug Sans, laughing. “And he didn't notice? Oh my gosh, you brilliant bonehead, I’m so proud of you.”

 

Sans chuckles as you hug him, then gently pulls away. “nah, he noticed th' other ten 'er so i had installed in the bike. taught 'im well, but 'e's prone ta make a mistake 'ere 'n there, 's what i was bankin' on, at least.'

 

You're laughing so hard you think you might cry. "You... you are an amazing genius and a _huge_ nerdy dork at the same time, Sans."

 

Sans chuckles. "Think i kin live with that, doll."

 

Sans does go back to being serious, but still has the faint trace of smirk on his face. "right, so we know where ‘e is, but not where ‘e’s goin’. though if we're considerin’ the state ‘e’s in, ‘e’s probably just tryin’ ta blow off a buncha steam by drivin’ round fast as he can, ‘s helped ‘im cool of before, ‘n ‘e says it keeps ‘im from hurtin’ people”

 

You quirk a brow. “Wouldn’t driving a motorcycle while in a bad place emotionally be considered pretty stupidly dangerous, though? Rus is usually smarter than that.”

 

“”s the thing, ‘e’s not exactly thinkin’ straight at th’ moment. but i will say ‘m not too worried ‘bout ‘im drivin’ that contraption, ‘e’s always ‘ad perfect control over ‘imself physically 'n magically, ‘cept when ‘is LV gets _really_ bad, ‘n i’m fairly sure ‘e’s not that far gone, so ‘e should be ‘ight till we get to ‘im”

 

You nod, still a bit unsure, but you trust Sans, especially when it comes to matters concerning his brother. “So, what now?”

 

Sans grins, eyelights glinting in mischievous recklessness. “‘we're goin' after ‘im, a course. you’re drivin’, if ya can with busted legs. less a course... ya wanna hav' some fun 'n take a risk by lettin' me have a shot at it?” He grins devishly.

 

You scoff. "Yeah, right. Maybe when you've up and...." you trail off and Sans starts laughing.

 

Sans is laughing so hard that if he had lungs, you're pretty sure he's be gasping for air. "when i've up an' died, right? well than, sweetheart, care ta rephrase tha' or ya saying i can drive?"

 

You use your crutches and make your way past him, lightly shoving his shoulder blade as you retrieve your car keys. "I'm your dreams, bone boy. I'm driving, done it before with busted legs, don't ask, and you're going to be my navigator and designated crutch holder."

 

Sans looks a little concerned with the fact that you've driven before injured, but the concern is quickly replaced with a casual grin and a shrug. "whatever ya say, dollface. now, 'less go get that lil' bro a mine"

 

You nod and the two of you make your way out the front door. Hopefully this can only get better from here.

 

But thinking over the past ten or so minutes, you smirk to yourself. 

 

This is going be one hell of a wild ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know what you think might happen from here, I'd love to know. 
> 
> Thoughts, opinions, and suggestions for this story or other possible story ideas are welcome! (Just no smut, please) :D
> 
>  
> 
> ☹⚐✞☜ ✡✌☹☹📬 ❄☟✌☠😐💧 ☞⚐☼ ☼☜✌👎✋☠☝✏


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